Since its launch in May of 2007, Google Street View has been a source of controversy. The Google feature offers web surfers 360° street-level views around hundreds of cities worldwide. Some of the photos, taken by a car-mounted video camera, have captured some personal moments, like people entering adult book stores, leaving strip clubs, picking their noses, and entering buildings with questionable methods.
Critics claim that posting photos of these things on the internet is a privacy violation. But Google’s not breaking any laws. All the photos are taken in public places, and the company has even taken steps to decrease its questionable content, from blurring faces to allowing users to flag photos that may be inappropriate.
The latest Street View gem comes from the new Australian Street View. There, cameras caught a young man passed out drunk on his front lawn. The man claims he’d been drinking all weekend after the death of his best mate. While he knows what he did was dumb, he wasn’t pleased when the photo was posted for the whole world to see. Amid the controversy, Google removed the image from its Street View page.
Remember — just because there’s not a crowd around you, that doesn’t mean you have privacy when you’re out in the open. You may laugh now, but just wait until Google’s cameras come to your town…