Once again, Google faces tough questions (and once again has few coherent answers) about the privacy implications of a new feature. This time it's the integration of spy satellite imagery into their Google Maps product. I've actually been playing with the software from Keyhole.com (the company Google acquired and whose images they use for the feature; "Keyhole" is the name of a particular type of spy satellite used by the US) for a few weeks, and it's really fun to explore the old neighborhoods where I grew up and to see what they look like now from a few hundred miles up in space. But while certain national security spots, such as the roof of the White House and the entire grounds of Dick Cheney's home, get some inartful obscuring, I was able to see that three of my neighbors had built decks in their back yards without filing the requisite paperwork with the city!(Now taking bets on how long until somebody sets up a website cataloging all the interesting obscured sites. By the way, what are the latitude/longitude coordinates of Area 51? Oh... found it. :) )[Updated April 11: Wonkette has discovered the issue of obscured sites in both Google Maps and Terraserver. Apparently the Bush compound in Kennebunkport got the white-out treatment too, as did a few other places.]Actually, I'm not that concerned about the privacy consequences of integrating satellite pictures with maps. As best I can tell, the photos are a couple of years old. So there's not much chance of capturing your sexy neighbor sunbathing, and s/he would need need to have (insert the body part of interest) large enough to be seen at about three feet of resolution.What I find amusing is the extent to which people are oooing and ahhing over this. MapQuest.com has had this aerial view feature for years. Thus, this new Google offering is, in typical Google fashion, just another example of taking an idea and one-upping it, this time with some better resolution images. Nobody swipes good ideas and one-ups 'em like Google! ;)Meanwhile, the larger question remains: WHY THE HELL IS NO ONE AT GOOGLE PAYING ATTENTION TO PRIVACY MATTERS? This is just one in a long string of incidents where new Google products raised privacy concerns for which the company seemed complete unprepared. Google prides itself on being a brilliant company staffed by brilliant people, yet like many geniuses, they're clearly a touch absent-minded on this and other issues. To wit, an item from today's Good Morning Silicon Valley:
"When we started Google News, we forgot to put ads in it. It's not deliberate. We actually forgot."-- Google CEO Eric Schmidt
Meanwhile, I'll update this posting with links to my segment tonight on The David Lawrence Show just as soon as David updates his own site.[Update 6/10/05: Nat over at O'Reilly has discovered the Google Maps "national security" issue too. They found a cool picture of Stealth Bomber on the tarmac in Palmdale, CA. Not really a security risk, but a cool pic nonetheless. :) ]