The Sum of All Google Fears.

It wasn’t long ago that I was reading about the amazing detail one can get using the Google ‘Street View’ map feature. Such as close-ups…

… of people walking in and out of strip clubs….

It has been hailed as a great tool for scouting vacation spots but I can not see why it is important to have such intimate detail. A low birds eye view should suffice if you are wanting to check out a seaside hotel. Am I right?

Here is an excerpt of an article on the possible violation of privacy..

SAN FRANCISCO - Google Inc. bills the latest twist on its online maps as “Street View,” but it looks a bit like “Candid Camera” as you cruise through the panorama of pictures that captured fleeting moments in neighborhoods scattered across the country.

In San Francisco, there’s a man picking his nose on a street corner, another fellow taking out the trash and another guy scaling the outside of an apartment building, perhaps just for fun or maybe for some more sinister purpose.

Further down the highway at Stanford University, there’s the titillation of a couple coeds sunbathing in their bikinis. In San Jose, there’s the rather sad sight of a bearded man apparently sleeping — or did he just pass out? — in the shadow of a garbage can, with what appears to be an empty cup perched in front of him.

In Miami, there’s a group of protesters carrying signs outside an abortion clinic. In other cities, you can see men entering adult book stores or leaving strip joints. (SOURCE)

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I would not have thought much more on the matter but then this article came out.

JUNE 4–One of the plotters behind the alleged scheme to explode gas pipelines at John F. Kennedy airport directed his co-conspirators to use Google Earth to obtain detailed aerial photos of the targeted facility. In a federal criminal complaint, an excerpt from which you’ll find below, one of the accused, Abdul Kadir, reportedly told cohorts to use the popular satellite software after he determined that surveillance video shot by the men was “not sufficiently detailed for operational purposes.” (SOURCE
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I don’t know about you, but whether this is true or not it is a very scary thing that this could be used for such a foul purpose. It won’t be about spying on neighbors anymore (which people have been and are doing) It might just be what a terrorist needs that are the next best thing to out right blue prints.

What do you think? :ninja: