Rather than Google creating some paranoia by constantly including people in its images, I hope that one day they have the technology to remove people completely. After all, users of Earth or Maps really just want to see the roads, buildings, and landscape anyway. If they take enough snapshots of one area, they will inevitably capture every square foot of land and building without a person covering it up at some point, and they could use pieces of each photo to create a complete image of an area without any people. It would be tough to do, but it shows that the privacy issue could be turned around completely instead of getting more Orwellian. |
Wirtschatswoche ist auf Englisch kein Economy Week sondern BusinessWeek |
It could all be a hoax now couldn't it?! or it could be intended for the wind farm thing, then your colourful editorialization will seem unnecessary. |
I can't evaluate the benefits of the resulting product against its risks upon our privacy (which I cherish).
If you had ask me wether I wanted Street View cars taking pics of my house back in 2001, I would certainly have rejected it categorically. But as I measure all the benefits of a free product with many potential uses, I think that it's great and that I would have been wrong to refuse it back in 2001.
Like Tyler, I think there will be much better blurring tech before such project is launched. And until I understand what Google could offer to everyone with such capabilities, I won't blame them for trying. |
Perhaps it's just a toy they will give to one of their conferences... |
Tyler: "I hope that one day they have the technology to remove people completely."
They will, once they add the optional heat seeking missiles ... |
Geez, one drone delivered to Google office and they make such a story of it. Probably it was just a toy ordered by one of the employees.
I remember people had ordered many such things for the office in Dublin just for fun: toy helicopters, USB controlled rocket launchers, various robots, nerf guns, etc. If the rocket launcher order made it to the news, what would journalists think? Is Google preparing for total world domination? |
I agree with Marcin, but on the other hand, the Microdrone is not a toy. It's an expensive and highly professional device. It's the only one of its kind that really can do mapping in a proper way. Just another instument to update the maps and aireal images we all use every day. And about blurring : The tools exist. It just needs to be done.
Check out this : http://www.youtube.com/user/OrbitUAV |
If it flys over my property, it will be shot down and destroyed. |
I emailed Google to verify and just got this official response: "Google is not testing or using this technology. This was a purchase by a Google executive with an interest in robotics for personal use." |
Thank you very much, Jeff! |
I think that this answer received by Jeff should be added to the post as an update too. |
Ooh, related to what I was suggesting earlier: http://www.pcworld.com/article/203021/software_removes_people_from_google_street_view.html?tk=hp_new |
For some reason this is still being reported as news on blogosphere, but Google is spreading its response:
http://blogs.forbes.com/andygreenberg/2010/08/09/is-this-flying-drone-googles-next-privacy-controversy/?boxes=techchannelsections
See also
http://www.wiwo.de/redline/googles-fliegende-augen-437639/ |
