Take a virtual walk down your street with new Google feature

Many of us simply want the RIGHT to opt out of this mapping tool without having to go thru a hassle...end of story.

Apparently I missed this mysterious new "right" that is either outlined in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights... the "right" to privacy on public streets. Can someone please clarify?

Get over yourselves people. Like another commenter said, you're nowhere near as important to other people as you'd like to believe.

People see your houses and *gasp* the license plates of your cars everyday. I'm failing to see what the issue is. I think it's a great tool for navigation and curiosity of new cities and landmarks.

"This idea also makes it easier for robbers, sex offender's, and who knows who else or what else to pick their next location to watch and maybe attack or steal from you. I want my address and any content showing my property and autos removed from this access site."

It is futile to contact Google to take your house off. Google is just one of MANY sites that are doing this now.

Now you know which neighborhoods to avoid...great tool!

"Yeah, Who's red Lexus is that parked in our driveway?"
Too funny!

This is an interesting service. Now I can see downtown without bums from the Union Mission asking me for money and without being carjacked or having my purse snatched. What a shame it can't be live so that the police could catch and convict people.

.....cool!!! Took my first virtual tour of the Norfolk city councils streets...nice!!!! Perhaps someone can forward this to them so they can look at Wards Cornor from the comfort of thier homes and offices! No matter about the fact that these are circa 2001 images...It still looks the same as when they last gave us some thought!

Everybody get back to work!

I was behind one a few weeks ago in Columbia SC (not Google but a different company). The van was bright orange with the comapny's name (I don't remember it) and logo, and the cameras were clearly mounted on top. It had a slogan on it "filming our world one street at a time" (or some such thing) that made it perfectly clear what was going on.

Now that Google's doing it, it's a given that others will follow.

jmo

The data is really too old to do stalkers any good...seriously. But, what an excellent way to check out neighborhoods, especially for people who will be making moves to other cities! I had a couple of lovely trips down memory lane and looked at places my husband and I have lived over the past 20 years....and was fascinated to see the tree I planted when I was pregnant with my 15 year old is now huge and way over the top of the house we used to own. It started as an Earth Day stick in the ground!

I find the technology very useful - especially if there's an area in Hampton Roads I'm not too familiar with. If I'm able to see a visual here online - that'll help me establish where I'm trying to be. Especially in downtown Norfolk!!

If given the option, most people would like to have the OPTION of whether they want their house on the web...even as a still photo. People work too hard for their houses to have them flippantly placed on a website...don't we all strive for privacy in our lives? Also, while you look up your old flame or friends house, these websites are making profits by selling thru ads, etc, etc. These websites will come back to bite us when used by criminals.

I just love the paranoid comment about big brother...oh, brother! It was too funny to read the poster's comment especially when he did it in all caps("Nothing more to say"). Yeah, like that's proof! I really think it's a neat concept being able to see the street views and looking up my old addresses. I've looked up my old addresses in LA using this feature and it was very cool. I noticed that things have changed. So, no I am not paranoid about this new feature at all. Matter of fact, I look forward to the red light cameras coming back!

Husband: "Honey, did you hear about the new google maps feature? You can put in our address and see our house from the street!"
Wife: "Cool, did you put ours in?"
Husband: "Yeah, Who's red Lexus is that parked in our driveway?"
Wife: busted.

I already tried that, you would have thought with 3 different men I would have caught one of them.

vehicles look like? Is there a way to tell when these vehicles are in your area? I bet they don't make it obvious that it is taking pictures.

The funny thing is I was talking to friends about doing this in the 2001 timeframe. I had a setup where I took pictures out the back of my car window trying to catch people doing stupid stuff (picking noses, etc) at stoplights, and making time lapse animations (used a Epson photoPC 550 running from MSDOS laptop). I couldn't see a use at that time for selling the data, and of course the idea passed. When google started this I thought of a totally different way to do it, but not sure how the results would turn out. It would definitely be a ... much different approach to the photos. The odd thing was much smaller regions were covered by this first. Also, does anyone know where the google datacenter is, that is rumored to be in Virginia Beach?

Husband: "Honey, did you hear about the new google maps feature? You can put in our address and see our house from the street!"
Wife: "Cool, did you put ours in?"
Husband: "Yeah, Who's red Lexus is that parked in our driveway?"
Wife: busted.

They finally posted our area. I was waiting a while for it. By the looks of it, it looks like they took the pictures on a weekend morning. This would be a great tool for house/apt shopping.

I punched in a friends address and they happened to take the pic when his neighbor had written a huge marriage proposal in the street. Go to 1312 Paulson Way Antioch TN 37013 and scroll around the pic to the street behind the view. Hilarious.

Those of you concerned about a phantom "Big Brother" peeping in via Google should be far more concerned with our erosion of civil liberties since Premier Bush took over.

Welcome technology, ye Bedrock citizens.

This should bring out the tin foil hat people

can't see my Norfolk house but can see lots of trees, i'll go visit the mayor's address now...

Most of your information on your sites is ok. However the newest link from "Google on virtual walk down your street." Has to be the biggest joke. Not only are they invading my privacy, it also shows the license plate number of your auto.
If your site is going to endorse this, then I will no longer visit it for anything and I will try my best to get it removed. I'm sorry that are country has to rely on someone else's not so funny ideas, to see just how easy it is to invade our privacy. This idea also makes it easier for robbers, sex offender's, and who knows who else or what else to pick their next location to watch and maybe attack or steal from you. I want my address and any content showing my property and autos removed from this access site.
So much for our rights!!!!!! As they have been thrown out the window.
Thank You for making this matter a since of importance!!!!!!!!

With the technology of satellites that can clearly photograph a dime from space, reconnaissance aircraft that can operate without detection, and mobile tracking vehicles available to both the military and civilian law enforcement, Google's Street View should be the least of your worries...and that technology has been around for decades. Granted, it may not have been readily available to the public, but seriously, do you think some weirdo is going to sit as his computer, viewing Google, and decide "Yeah, I'm gonna stalk these people because they have a funny looking front yard". Get real people. You're a lot more insignificant than you think.

So what? It's a photo of my house taken during the summer - motorcycle in the driveway and crape myrtles in bloom. I can't imagine one bit of harm coming from this. The hand-wringing over a photograph of a street is amusing to say the least.

jmo

My initial reaction was WOW! What technology! So last night I spent hours looking for former places I lived, friends and relatives houses, etc. For myself, I don't much care. I'm glad though, that my husband had just cut and edged the lawn...LOL! I'm able to trace the picture back to October of 2007 (I believe it was the first weekend in Oct) because in my neighborhood I see jack-o-lanterns. However, I'm concerned, even though faces and license plates are blurred, I could definitely recognize a neighbor in his yard because of his body build and there's no doubt there's a Ford F150 pickup truck in my driveway. Google has "one-upped" MSN Live Earth by taking the 3D a step further and I'm not sure this is such a good idea. Do a Google of Street View and Privacy and you'll find a lot of concerns, many of which I think are legitimate.

the pics are old. i haven't had the vehicle pictured in front of my apartment since January. and my best friend's car is pictured...but she has since upgraded TWICE, so her picture is from sometime in October. in the end, its a useful tool for people new to the area. before you buy a house/rent an apartment, you can get a sense of who your neighbors will be and what conveniences will be in your area. if you'll notice, Google is not allowed to photograph military installations(not even the outside of the gates) for security reasons, nor are they allowed down private streets/driveways. basically, there is no invasion of privacy (by law) since they are taking pictures of public streets.

The picture of my former house is at least 8 months old. How do I know? Because we sold the house last November, and the For Sale sign is in the picture!

Well, looks like I will be contacting google as well. I don't mind my house being available for view, but several of my children's bikes and toys are in plain site. Way too easy for some freak to figure out where kids live.