Hey, Guess What? I Can See You…

Wow! Google has yet again invented a type of application – Google Street View.  When I first realized this I was both happy and scared.  Since my family doesn’t own a GPS, I would say I use Google Map quite often.  When the new application was out, I found it very interesting.  At first, I thought that it would be very convenient since I would be able to see what the place I was searching up look like and look for eye-catching landmarks to help recognize it.  However, when I actually tried it, it took me quite a while to figure out how to navigate through the image of the roads.  When I tried to move forward or to zoom in, it went too far, and when I tried to look around, it started making me dizzy!  I guess things aren’t always the way they seem to be.

I’m pretty sure that no privacy laws are being broken (since Google would have taken down the application if they were) but that doesn’t mean that everyone feels comfortable with it.  Many people may think that this new application is violating privacy.  Mom and I are two of them.  When reality kicked in, I realized that MY house would be viewed by strangers as well.  Fortunately, when I searched up my address, my family wasn’t in the picture and surprisingly our car wasn’t either.  However, if our picture was there it would have been a different story.  As it is now, I don’t think it would violate any privacy.  This is because people on the road passing by or anyone walking by my house would see the same view – a normal two-storey house.  If, for example, there was a picture of me walking home from school, I would think that it would be violating my privacy.  Even though my face would be blurred, I think that people can figure out who it is.  A stranger might see a teenager with a backpack and possibly recognize my Mary Ward Uniform.  That is enough to locate where I go to school!  As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words

For example, the picture to the left is from Google Street View at the Kennedy bus stop near Ward.  As you can already see, there are some Mary Ward Students waiting for the bus.  Even though you might not know WHO exactly they are, you can recognize that they are from Mary Ward from their uniform which can be seen. 


In the end, I think that this new application from Google has more disadvantages than advantages.  Even though it may be more convenient for some users to see a picture of the location they are traveling to, I think that the privacy issue is a big concern.  I think more people would accept this application if Google decides to actually REMOVE all people and cars in the photos.  A new way of navigating through the roads would help as well.  Unfortunately, I think that it’s not very likely since it would cost a lot more and waste time.