Front What’s New from the World of Tech
Are You on the Map? Virtual mapping programs, such as Google’s Street View, have raised questions about privacy and security. Online mapping has come a long way since the days of primary-colored, slow-to-load MapQuest images. Google and Microsoft have taken online mapping to a new level of realism, thanks to satellite imagery and multilens cameras mounted on the tops of nondescript cars and vans trolling the streets of a town near you. This virtual mapping technology has appeared in services such as Google Maps’ Street View and Microsoft’s Live Search Maps, letting users see a panoramic, photographic view of a location, often with overlays of navigational map data. For the cartographi-
cally challenged, virtual mapping has been exceedingly helpful, letting them see what destinations look like in real life. But along with photographing streets and buildings, the roving cameras are also photographing people. In most cases, those captured in a virtual mapping image are simply going about their daily lives—strolling down the sidewalk or crossing an intersection. But the rooftop cameras have also caught people engaging in embarrassing or potentially criminal activities, including walking into an adult bookstore, urinating behind a parked car, and climbing the steel
gate of a house in what looks to be a breakin attempt. Street View has a built-in feature to blur faces, but many say it does not work consistently. And what about capturing your license plate number, house number, or your kids playing in the front yard? Some argue that virtual mapping is a violation of privacy, since those photographed are unaware, and they are taking companies like Google and Microsoft to task. Pittsburgh residents Aaron and Christine Boring sued Google in April 2008 for privacy, trespassing, negligence, and unjust enrichment after photographs of their APRIL 2009 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION
