2008.12.12
Google maps’ “Street View” of Roanoke kind of creeps me out
You only have to poke around the DataSphere for a little while to figure out I love Google maps, and partly because I’m so dependent on them to give you, gentle reader, a geographic look at data sometimes.
Google just seems to jam out great new stuff all the time — Google Earth, Google Chat, and now the Google video chat.
"Street View" of The Roanoke Times building in Google maps
I played with this a while yesterday. Naturally, I plugged in my home address to see if my house was there. It was, in an image shot, apparently, on a spring day, while we were all gone. Neither of our cars was in the driveway. Well, that’s cool, right?
I mean, this is not only a visual document of pretty much every square inch of roadway around here, but it’s also a snapshot of the second in time when a particular image was taken. You can see cars on the road, pedestrians on the sidewalk, notice the weather.
On the other hand, it was kind of creepy. It made me feel vulnerable somehow, made my private life feel a little more out there than I really wanted it to be.
Now, as a journalist, I defend the right of any documentarian to take photos in a public place like a city street. This newspaper depends on that.
On the other hand, this feels invasive somehow. I’m all about more information, but do we really need this much information? Granted, there’s not a minute level of visual information in these photographs. You can see people in some places, and you can zoom in, but not to a great extent before the image begins to deteriorate. I’ve been trying, and I’ve yet to be able to really see a face or make out a license plate. But is there still potential for abuse here? Could people use this to gather information about you for nefarious purposes?
No doubt, the technology is amazing, but this puts me in mind of something I ask myself about putting data on the web. I’m all about data, and the more the better, but all journalists, including data editors, ought to be frequently asking themselves, “Just because I can, does that mean I should?”
What do you all think? Go play with this new toy, and if you think about it, report back here.
I too went and plugged in my address and it zoomed right on my house in fact a little too close. ( as in you could see a missing mini-blind) I don’t like this at all. I know finding out where you live is as easy as going to public records but this bothers me.
Comment by jamie — December 12, 2008 @ 3:03 pm
I did it, Chittum, and I had the same Halloweeny discomfort you did. I can even tell by the picture that it was taken somewhat recently by the details. I like more communication and more information, but I would also like to think that the arbiters of said data can govern themselves for the well being of the whole group.
Comment by Todd Hester — December 12, 2008 @ 4:23 pm
Really creepy…
Comment by Roanoke RnR — December 12, 2008 @ 4:42 pm
“…all journalists, including data editors, ought to be frequently asking themselves, “Just because I can, does that mean I should?”
It’s ironic to read this on the same website that put the names of all Virginia concealed handgun permit holders online.
It won’t be long, I imagine, until we’ll all have access to real-time high-resolution satellite photography over the internet.
Comment by Mike Hutchison — December 13, 2008 @ 1:28 pm
Mike, I can’t really argue about the irony, but I can tell you that the concealed weapons permit database was posted by our editorial department, which is entirely separate from the news department in which I work. They make their own choices about content, just as we in news do.
Comment by Matt Chittum — December 13, 2008 @ 5:24 pm
Heck, the photos on Roanoke City’s GIS website of all city residences & businesses are a whole lot sharper, and they’ve been online for several years.
Comment by Bill Pleen — December 14, 2008 @ 1:48 am
I have read about groups knowing when the van was coming through areas to take the photos and staged people on the street doing interesting things for people to discover while viewing the maps. Too bad we didn’t have a heads up when they were coming through Roanoke!
Comment by Bill Martin — December 15, 2008 @ 8:51 am
The funny thing is pick a road like woodhaven road and follow it out. It changes from woodhaven to williamson to woodhaven to about 6 different roads. Someone could not set the GPS unit correctly in the van I guess or they have major problems. the intersections of Valley Point and Wood haven is funny.
Comment by Mike — December 15, 2008 @ 2:32 pm
Probably not as bad as the many people that sign up for the “happy shopper” cards at grocery stores and such. I’m sure the stores (and whoever else has access to that information) have all sorts of information about the family. How many kids…what you eat…when the kids head off to college…what you’ve been seeing the doctor for…
Comment by Ed S. — December 15, 2008 @ 10:20 pm
My address is there, but based on details on the neighbor’s houses, I can tell it’s a fairly old photo.
And based on the trash cans out front, I can tell it was taken in the late afternoon on a Tuesday.
Comment by Mason — December 16, 2008 @ 1:20 pm
My house is in there, complete with un-mowed grass! I must have been out of town or something.
And yes, the Roanoke GIS site has the same sorts of images. But that site is not as easy to stumble upon as Google Maps’ Street View. From now on every potential visitor who types in my address to get directions will see my yard in the unkempt state it happened to be in on that day.
Comment by Mark R — December 18, 2008 @ 9:27 am
It is kind of creepy, but like someone above said, the city’s GIS site has similar photos. What’s creepy is when someone emailed me the picture from that website and said, I know where you live…. Anyway, google map isn’t the only site like this. Microsoft has a live map version that doesn’t quite zoom as far in. Google maps crack me up anyway – they are very inaccurate in places. Check out Mill Mountain for example. Walnut Ave/Fishburn Parkway is completely wrong.
Comment by Jen — December 19, 2008 @ 7:00 am
OK so from reading some of these posts It appears as though some sort of van came around taking pictures of my neighbordhood. I too find this a little creepy but a little cool too. My question is, how much did it cost to have this van driving all over the country just taking pictures of stuff?
Comment by Greg — December 19, 2008 @ 9:11 am
Also if you know Woodhaven rd you have to check it out. I recommend starting at 6100 woodhaven. This will put you at the intersection of woodhaven and Peters Creek. The go to street view and follow the street. I don’t even recognize some of the roads they have mixed in there. I do know that woodhaven never spilts into 4 lanes with a concrete medium but it does on google! Very funny. Thanks for the column Matt. This has been my source of morning entertainment.
Comment by Greg — December 19, 2008 @ 9:55 am
I have passed two of these vans in the past year i recall..
One was going down 419 near the Salem & Roanoke County line
And the other was on Airport Rd at the tunnels
Comment by Scott — December 25, 2008 @ 8:31 am
I’m disappointed that my house isn’t there. They apparently made an error when they went down my street. You go down the street and it all of a sudden switches to some unknown place.
I reported the error to Google, but who knows when they will get around to fixing it.
Scott, you must have passed something else. Google doesn’t use vans. They use cars for Street View.
Comment by Jack — February 19, 2009 @ 8:39 am
I can’t believe this!! I put in my address & poof!!!! Ther was my little scrawny house & cars & a bird bath – that we no longer have!!! The photo was taken last spring – in April. This is creeping me out. TMI on the internet & I know the shoppers cards monitor lots of stuff & now this. Kinda like 1984 – Big Bro. Who paid for this??? Taxpayers? the Government? Google? Who footed the bill for all of these houses / streets/ businesses to be photgraphed & placed on line???
Comment by Leisia — March 16, 2009 @ 8:08 am