CSC 379:Week 4, Group 6
Mapping / Google Street View
Many are concerned about the invasiveness of satellite/aerospace imaging. Governments have complained of risks related to the availability of images of sensitive military or strategic sites, sometimes requesting obfuscation or blackouts of the compromising images. With the expansion of mapping technologies to the street level (see links below), more people have become concerned about how invasive to their privacy public photography can be.
Amongst many lawful and beneficial uses, mapping technologies have also made it easier for planning crimes.
Explore the ethical implications of mapping technologies. Should mapping technologies comply with the laws of every country that has access their services even if they are not located there? Are requests for censorship of public photography ethical? When? As mapping imagery increases in coverage and resolution over time, should there be limits set or censorship mandated to protect the public from lawful but invasive and sometimes unwanted photography?
Google Street View
Overview
Google Street View is a tool integrated into Google Maps that allows users to view routes from a street-level perspective. This tool is only available for select locations, usually large cities such as Miami and San Francisco. When using Street View, you are given a 360 degree view of the street from the perspective of a car on the street. The view is generated from actual photographs taken of the streets. There is a zoom feature incorporated into the view and people and private property are not censored by Google. Street View was developed as a tool to aid users in finding landmarks, shops, restaurants, and other points of interest in cities that would otherwise be foreign to a tourist or other traveler. Another touted feature is that you can take a 'virtual walk' around a Street View enabled city.
Concerns
There are several concerns that people have with Google Street View. Many people function under the assumption that their everyday actions are not being watched. Some of the Street View photographs, which are all readily accessible show people walking the streets or entering establishments. Most of these pictures seem harmless, but there are a few that show men walking into adult-themed bookstores, or women laying out sunbathing. Had these people known that they would be displayed to the world, they may have changed their plans for that particular day, and surely some of them would have never consented to these images being shown. While there are some obvious benefits to Street View, if even one person is offended by the content of the images then there is reason for concern of the ethicality of the tool. Some may argue that the pictures are taken from a public place, and would be visible to anyone who happened to be traveling through the area. While this is compelling, one must also consider the fact that the people photographed may not have had a problem with being seen by the general public in small numbers, but would object to being seen by the millions of people that use Google.
There are many questions that can be raised about Street View regarding individual's privacy rights. However, none break any actual laws since all pictures are taken in public places. Does that make it ok though? Is it ethical? If you are accidentally caught changing infront of the shower by Google Street View photographers should they remove the photo? Since it was obviously not their intent to take a picture of you naked it may be hard to hold them accountable. However, it would be in good ethical 'taste' to remove the pictures if so requested, eventhough it would not be required by law.
It's not just mapping on a street level that have ethical implications. Mapping technologies on a larger scale bring up other ethical issues. While being able to view satalite imagery may make it easier for you to find a place of business, it could also aid robbers in researching their next robbery victim. It could even help terrorists plan their next attack on a major landmark without even requiring them to visit their target. Satalite imagery could have a huge impact on national security. Should access to such information be restricted? and to who's laws should they conform to? This all depends on who has ownership of the information. If a Russian satalite is sailing over the United States and takes pictures of the White House they should be allowed to do whatever they want with those images, unless of course, they obtained them by breaking some law. This obviously has great implications if such information falls into the wrong hands, but, ethically, you can't deny or restrict someone use to something that is rightfully and legally theirs. The access to such information can not ethically be restricted, but perhaps the ways the information is obtained could.
Regulation/Solutions
Currently, Google has no real restriction on what will get put on the maps. They will remove an image if there is a request and sufficient justification, but they report that there have been 'very few' removal requests. This does not mean that people would not be offended by their image being on a globally-viewed map, it may just be that due to the nature of the maps, that people may be ignorant to the fact that their image is even there. While Google may be on solid legal ground, there are a few options that have been posed by online communities that may offer a more responsible approach.
Possible Solution
- Censoring out images of people: Google could simply 'blur' out the faces of people caught by their cameras. This would address some of the individual's rights concerns, but it still leaves some of the other issues unresolved.