Google faces storm over naked child on Street View

Google faces storm over naked child on Street View

www.dailymail.co.uk

Google has apologised after its Street View photo mapping service showed a frontal view of a naked child on a family day out.

Images of the blond boy, aged four or five, went live on Thursday in an update for the service.

They pictured him with his trousers down after going to the toilet on Wimbledon Common, South-West London.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.prisonplanet.com

I'm pretty sure this hasn't been posted here on ATS yet, i'm not sure if it's in the correct forum though.

I'm a little torn between two sides on how to feel about this.

My first thought was "Seriously? What's the big deal? You can find nude images of people, adults and children, all over the web". The world has gone mad with being so totally PC that we're losing our humanity.

Then, however, I realize there's a privacy issue with the people involved in having their faces shown on the web. That i do care for. I'm pretty sure that i wouldn't want my children being shown in the nude on the web.



www.dailymail.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

I wonder how many users were thinking "Where can I see the picture" just for a laugh.

The simple fact is that Google is invading our privacy.

It takes the biscuit that they can get away with any of this.

Google should be required to remove all people from the street view. No ifs, no buts; all people!

The best bit, is that if this was the Gov't that had done this, there would be far more people jumping up and down screaming blue murder.... where are these people now???

One of my dads mates car number plate isnt blanked out.

reply to post by KainRich


G'day KainRich

Thanks for posting that interesting article.

I think that all in all, Google Earth Street View is too invasive for all concerned.

I think it should be discontinued.

Kind regards
Maybe...maybe not

In fact, in most Western countries, privacy laws do not cover what you do in public places. In the US, for example, they do not even cover what you do in places that can be seen from public places. So if you don't want photos taken of what you do in your living room, and your living room can be viewed from the sidewalk outside your house, close the drapes. There is a wide gulf between what is distasteful and what is illegal. More than anything, this ought to remind parents that it might be a good idea to ensure that their children are fully clothed when in public.

Google and its street view feature have come under fire many times for things like this, and in most, if not all cases, the company has responded by apologizing and pulling the offending images. As noted in the article in the OP, Google has already apologized and removed the image. The system works by a car with cameras rolling around city streets; it's not as if they target people doing odd things in public places.

I totally agree with Maybe. Its way too intrusive.

Whats next, a virtual tour through your things? (as if there isn't one already)

G.

reply to post by articulus

So if you don't want photos taken of what you do in your living room, and your living room can be viewed from the sidewalk outside your house, close the drapes.

If you close the curtains, your neighbour will get suspicious that you're a terrorist hiding away.

If govt. advice given out on talksport radio were taken seriously.

[edit on 13-3-2010 by john124]

i would have mooned the google car if i knew when it passed my house
give them something good to look at

reply to post by KainRich


This does not surprise me, there is a veiw of my house with me sitting outside... WHo needs enemies when you have freinds like these.

Originally posted by KainRich
They pictured him with his trousers down after going to the toilet on Wimbledon Common, South-West London.

I must plead ignorance, while I've been to London once before, I don't recall visiting the toilets at Wimbledon Common, South-West London. Why was the child nude in public? Are these outdoor toilets or something? With no privacy barriers? I don't get it.

Well we may not like the invasion of privacy, but I've found the service useful on several occasions so I have mixed feelings about it.

But I don't expect they will be getting any photos of my child naked in public because, well, my kids have clothes on while in public, don't yours?

And they did apologise and pull the image. No biggie.

reply to post by Arbitrageur


You dont get it?????
Anyone with kids know that they will fling it out and go pee pee, family days out are heaps of fun and kids will not run away to the toilet cause that would waste precious playing time with the other kids , cause kids do things like that ,

Google buggered it up big time , !!!!!

I might have just been a bratty kid who goes nude in public on a regular basis just to embarrass his parents. My older brother used to do it all the time, no matter how much trouble he got in. Once, when he was ten, he even stole a car while naked. I'm sure that every country has some brazen youth. Perhaps Google should stop enabling all of the nosy people in the world.

Yea Google Streetview has really annoyed me.

I checked my address about 3 months ago and there was a picture of me carrying 2 grocery bags out of my car headed for the house. The picture is perfectly clear and large since the road is right there at my front fence.

I emailed google with the link they provide for reporting/requesting removals etc. But it's been 3 months and they STILL haven't removed my picture.

I hate the service.

reply to post by Cito


I have Google Earth and Google Sky, but i've never actually checked out Street View. Is it an option on Google Earth or a standalone app?

That's pretty crazy that it filmed you carrying groceries in the house!

reply to post by illusive man


Interestingly enough, I didn't even notice the van when it passed me, and I can see myself on street view in Google.

Doesn't bother me in the least, I think it's pretty cool that I'm on the map.

As for the child, now that they know, they can blur it out.

From the source:

The photos were removed soon after Google was alerted yesterday.

Perfect. They were made aware of it, and they removed them. What more could have been asked of Google, I do not know.

Also, from the source

The photos, showing the child's mother or nanny helping him dress and a man looking on, have sparked fears that paedophiles will have a new way to search for photos or targets online.

Stupid. While the chance that a pedophile would have chanced upon seeing this particular image, I severely doubt that pedophiles have been working the Google street view for their victims. That's just paranoid.

People that are freaked out about this confuse me as well. Before street view, I could zoom in on your home, look you up on whitepages.com, heck, most people don't even realize that they associate their username all over the web and that alone can be a huge breach of privacy.

I'm big on privacy advocacy, but this is not the spot where I'm going to camp out and scream, there are too many real privacy violations that this doesn't compare to.

Wait until we have aliens telling google sky to blur out their galaxies.

..

Oh wait, they already do! They also contact NASA to blur out their moon bases.

... I can't wait till we get public robot service droids. Wait until we get into the debates about them recording everything they see.

It'll lead into pills that suppress short term memory so people can't remember who they've seen since it is so invasive to privacy.

reply to post by niteboy82


I agree, in my opinion it is not an invasion of privacy at all. It's not like they are taking their cameras down your driveways and in your backyards. If you can see it from the street, then it is not private. They block out faces and license plates, there is absolutely nothing "invasive" about what they are doing.

Originally posted by niteboy82

Also, from the source

The photos, showing the child's mother or nanny helping him dress and a man looking on, have sparked fears that paedophiles will have a new way to search for photos or targets online.

Im surprised people arent screaming about the mother or nanny having a nekkid child out in public. Pedophiles are much more likely to see the little tyke nekkid on the street than they are to see them in the street view on Google Earth.

I personally like Google Earth street view. When I moved, it helped me check out the neighborhoods of houses I considered renting without having to fly there in person. I think its a great feature. And so far, every face I have seen has been blurred out.

It would be funny if someone mooned the Google Earth car though. Even if they blurred it out, you would still get the drift.

Edit to add;

I also am old enough that I remember nekkid baby butts in ads on TV. I think we have gone just a little nuts with the whole pedophile thing.

[edit on 13-3-2010 by Illusionsaregrander]