Worried about Google and your privacy?

[blkmage]

http://maps.google.com/
Well worry some more, because Google Maps now has satellite pictures!
With one easy click, you can switch from the map view to a lovely satellite picture of the area. I can see my house, and my school, and my church, and anything that isn't underground, basically.

[Locke]

( Note from Locke: Friend typing how she feels, this is her oppinion and not mine =])


Be afraid... be very afraid... [grabs baby blanket]
[whispers] They're watching us. (O_O)

If you would excuse me, I'm going to put on my aluminum foil cap and head on out to the bomb shelter and organize my rations. The peaches are getting ripe. (=])

-Courtesy of jeezus_fureek


(Locke= OH EM GEE her Grammar is fantastic!)

Jeezuz_fureek= *punches Locke*

[Fsiphskilm]

This service

[chibiphonebooth]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! PPL CAN FIND OUT WHERE I LIVE AND WHAT IM DOING AND AND AND ANDA NDADNALDKNFLAKNDF;ALKJFA;LDKFJA;LDKF! *twitch*

[Mangafanatic]

[quote="chibiphonebooth"]AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! PPL CAN FIND OUT WHERE I LIVE AND WHAT IM DOING AND AND AND ANDA NDADNALDKNFLAKNDF]
No! They can't see what you're doing. If it's the same satelite photo I've seen, it was taken years ago.

[chibiphonebooth]

oh. ok good. i dont want to be spied on...*shifty eyes*

[Debitt]

Most of the satellite photos were taken years ago. =/ It's hard to find your house from them anyways. I don't see what the big deal is.

[chibiphonebooth]

i dunno. i just like to be over-dramatic. XD

[Ashley]

I don't like the principle at all. We have parent groups screaming about child molestation and rape because of internet psychos, yet google makes it all too easy to figure out someone's address, telephone number, and location with no disregard to privacy. It'd be one thing if we were ASKED if we wanted that info put up online, but this is outrageous to me.

[enishi]

the internet was the first sign of the apocalypse.

[Fsiphskilm]

I agree wit

[Azier the Swordsman]

All I got to say is....

[Kaligraphic]

Most of the satellite photos were taken years ago. =/ It's hard to find your house from them anyways. I don't see what the big deal is.

The satellite pictures that Google uses were taken early last summer. They're less than a year old.

And I found my house pretty easily.

[agasfas]

And I found my house pretty easily.

Actually, the furthest it let me go was finding my street, not exact location. It's basically just like mapquest, really not much of a difference. Dont' get me wrong, I'm totally for privacy and anti-tracking... I'm hardcore about that. But you can find the same exact thing by buying a map of the city; there's no difference in that sense (just easier and free). THe thing I'm more concerned about is the phone number issue.

[Debitt]

I'd probably be more worried about the phone numbers as well...don't get me wrong, google shouldn't have that stuff so easily accessible, but on the other hand random people on the internet shouldn't know your phone number or address to begin with. Sure, telephone books have that information in it, but those are fairly local, and I'm somewhat skeptical of any stories of stalkers arbitrarily picking phone numbers from telephone directories and kidnapping people. =/ I dunno. Sure it shouldn't be there, but there are definitely other things people should be experiencing mass hysteria over.

[Jasdero]

Oh wow.. that's awesome... *found her house*

[Fsiphskilm]

Yes, Kos too...

[Mourningdove217]

I'm more worried about the whole phone number ordeal. That's scary. But in my oppinion, this map thing isn't that bad. It's like a regular map but it shows houses and everything. Not a big deal to me.

[Debitt]

Conclusion: It ain't all google's fault if you get stalked down. Don't like it, take your phone number off their directory. =/

[blkmage]

In all honesty, I don't think this is as big a concern as it looks. Sure, we can find our houses, and our phone numbers and addresses, but the only reason we can find them is because we already know them. I do like playing around with the satellite and map thing though.

[Arbre]

And on top of that, there's no point to this?!?!?!?!!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TV - can't live without
Computer - can't live without
Internet - can't breathe without
Online PhoneBook and Satalite map photos??? - I mean how is that Usefull? WHO would find themselves going to Google Maps and Google Phone Book everyday?!

It's a lot easier than using the big bulky phone book to find a friend's or relative's house. I use Google maps to get directions basically everywhere, like churches. It's not every day, but still... How many people use a standard phone book every day? I'd argue that those massive books are even more pointless.

The satellite images aren't much different than a standard map. Maps and phone books can be used to stalk people too. This just makes it faster, like most online equivelants of books. Maybe slightly easier too ... but it does have innocent uses as well.

To be fair, though, I'm unlisted so my phone number isn't available. The last time I searched for a satellite image of my house, it didn't really show anything, either.

[Yojimbo]

Wow...and how long has Mapquest been online? This is nothing new.

[Fsiphskilm]

Of Cours

[Scribs]

My number is unlisted, and I live in an area of the country too obscure to be covered by Google's satelites, so I am safe for now. Though I was dissapointed that I didnt get to see my house.

[mechana2015]

Yeah..my house isn't visible either...my dorm is though, but no one can trace that through the phone system, and Google can't give directions through my phone since it's a cell phone. Its actually fairly interesting to me to use it and look at stuff, like places I skied and whatnot.

[Kaligraphic]

Satellite maps are very useful for when you're driving to an unfamiliar location, and you want to make sure that you have at least a general view of a) what your destination looks like, and b) whether there are weird road peculiarities in the area. It'll also give you some landmarks to navigate by.

[Shao Feng-Li]

All I had to was look up the church that is right across the street from my house.
At any rate, it doesn't bother me in the least. All it does is show houses. You can know where a house is by just walking down the street. It's not like it has a bubble above it saying "Rachael lives here." And don't they have to even know where you live to even get a general idea of where to search?

[Mithrandir]

I'm probably one of the biggest privacy fans on the board, and I think this is great. First off, THIS HAS BEEN POSSIBLE FOR YEARS. The only thing different is that it's easy. Some of you people had no idea that you could be tracked down - even a year ago you wouldn't have believed it's possible. NOW you are mad about it. GO GOOGLE!!!! The have done more in the last 3 months to get people concerned about their privacy than ANY of the people on this board claiming to be "privacy advocates."

'nuff said.

[Fsiphskilm]

[quote=

[mechana2015]

by my guess some of the california shots at least seem to be taken on a weekday in early december '03 or january '04 and around 1 or 2 in the afternoon.