No Google Street View, Please –We’re British
some residents of the comfortable Buckinghamshire village of Broughton in Southeast Britain took umbrage at the Google Street View car tooling through their streets — and physically blocked the car to put a put an end to it. “Forming a human chain to stop it, they harangued the driver about the “invasion of privacy
Despite the “We’re British” part failing miserably at being funny, this is an interesting article. Many people has shown their frowns against Google Street View in the past, but an incident to this degree, as far as I know, has never happened before.
So the question is, how do you define “privacy” ?
I feel like the place to draw the line between private and public has become much more clear in the past decade or so. At least in Japan, the idea of “community” use to be much more stronger back in the days. In a collectivist society, each individual adopts the communal identity as a large part of their individual identity. Such societal values blur the border between what is public and private. However with a shift in the general mindset, from collectivism to individualism, the difference between private and public becomes much more clear: what is meant to be or what is already public is public, and all other things are personal.
For example, I personally do not think Google Street view is invading one’s privacy just by taking pictures of houses. The outside view of the house sits in the public, therefore its public. If one doesn’t like that, they simply should cover their home. I do not believe “but its gonna go online” is a valid argument, since the fact that the house may be viewed anonymously stays constant regardless of the existence of internet.
This issue, however, gains a bit more complexity when your curtains are wide open at the wrong time.
Say for example Google Street View drives across the street when you are trying to get some breeze through your house. In such circumstance, is your privacy still invaded? To be honest, I do not think so. I feel that the act that allows any form of privacy to be accessed by the public is in itself the act of abandoning such privacy. If you leave your door open, you are taking the risk of people entering your house. If you leave all of your furniture in the middle of a street, you are taking the risk of someone taking your furniture. If you leave your wallet in the middle of a shopping mall, you are taking the risk of somebody stealing your money. If you leave your window open, you are taking the risk of someone peaking in your house, or possibly Google Street View driving across your doorway.
At the end of the day, it comes down to how much each person gains/loses from Google Street View. I do not oppose against it because I think its useful, and it has not yet hurt me in any ways. But if, or example, I happen to be posing naked in front of my wide-open window when Google Street View drives by, I will simply email them and ask them to hide the necessary areas of my body.
I do not quite understand why the people of Buckinghamshire village made so big of a deal out of Google Street View. I guess the area being somewhat upperclass could have stirred safety concerns.. Either way, I still do not think those villagers being “British” is a good enough reason, neither do I think that pseudo-humor is funny.
