UK Google Street View (mis)adventure

[DaBees-Knees]

http://www.p2pnet.net/story/19701

p2pnet exclusively revealed how Google managed to get Beatle Paul McCartney’s street address wrong. We suggested people at the house  incorrectly cited as McCartney’s might be able to cash in on the mistake.

Now, in another UK Google Street View (mis)adventure, “When villagers in the quiet, ‘affluent’ village of Broughton in Cambridgeshire spotted a Google Street View car creeping into sight, they leaped into action and formed a human chain until the Google car slunk away with tailpipe between its tyres,” says the Daily Mail, going on: “The villagers complained Google had no right to take pictures of their homes, calling it an ‘invasion of privacy’ and an ‘invitation for burglars to strike’. “But not only has the village brought national attention to itself, it has raised the ire of Internet users, who are now campaigning for Street View enthusiasts from across the UK to descend on the village to snap their own perfectly legal photographs.” But, but, Google can do anything it wants. Can’t it? Not according to the villagers. They’ve, “already begun posting pictures of the village online and used the photographs to post tongue-in-cheek ‘masterplans’ on how to plot robberies, by climbing on red phoneboxes and swinging off tree branches,” says the story. “The impromptu protest started on Wednesday when Resident Paul Jacobs spotted the Google car - which was unmarked but featured the tell-tale 360-degree rotating camera fixed on a pole on its roof - cruising slowly down his lane in the Buckinghamshire village. ”

People, not surprisingly, do get upset when they think their privacy is being invaded. It's one thing looking at a general city centre street scene, but photographing straight in to the windows of houses in a small village from 30 feet away is a totally differant matter. Us Brits like our privacy. 

[White Stripes]

Us Brits like our privacy.

no offence but if thats so why every time i see pictures of say, london, do i see cameras at every street corner... ...if brits are already used to living with big brother & the tv tax police whats wrong with a google van?

tho google is going about it wrong... id use a van that looked like it was converted to an rv with skylights.. hidden in one of the skylights would be a high-speed 360degree scanning camera (the ones that constantly spin very fast... usually used for 'computer vision' systems) so i could drive through at a normal speed and get all the shots i wanted