Cameras everywhere, even in online maps

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A couple of things you don't take into consideration

First, to directly address your statement that it isn't necessary to zoom in to street level when getting directions - a lot of people, myself included, do better with landmarks, rather than street names, when attempting to navigate new territory. It's usually impossible to get recognizable street-level landmarks from satellite photos.

Second, and a lot of people don't realize this - it's perfectly legal to take random pictures, as long as you're on public property and not attempting to zoom into private areas - inside windows of homes, e.g. (How else do you think the paparazzi trade could continue to flourish?) If someone snaps your picture in a public place, you have no legal recourse whatsoever to demand that the picture not be published.

That said, I hold Google in high regard for their willingness to remove or edit pictures at the requests of the subjects. It's something they're not required to do by law, but I believe it's the right thing to do, when it's requested of them.

Yes, the chance of getting an embarrassing picture (or even one causing personal risk) of yourself posted online or in the paper can be a problem, but if laws were enacted preventing photographers from publicizing pictures without the consent of everyone represented in the photograph, newspapers would have a sudden dearth of pics on their printed pages, and TV stations would be prevented from airing most of the live shots they take. To take it to an extreme, most of your vacation photos could be removed from your possession under this pretense, because those can be shared with anyone, at any time, and they run the risk of jeopardizing someone in the background.

It's an impossibility to take everything (or everyone) into account when aiming a camera in a public place.

Posted by: Zeppo9191   Posted on: 05/30/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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