Big Brother is Watching You

Over winter break I was told about an interesting new feature present on Google Earth. I've always been a fan of this program; I tend to use it frequently in order to get accurate directions to places I need to go. The new feature on Google Earth allows the user to obtain views of a city from the perspective of a driver on the street. It's possible to cruise through a city in a virtual car while gazing at snapshots of the local scenery. What's a little freaky about the program is the fact that you can see actual people (and sometimes recognize them) alongside the streets. Luckily, my house is in the middle of the country, so the street view is not available there. It's kinda weird seeing people and places you know through a series of photos online.

This feature of Google Earth reminded me a lot of the "transparent society" concept we were talking about in class on Wednesday. People from all over the globe are able to locate your house online and see closeup visuals from the street out front. That's just a little bit creepy. I don't know if I'd be comfortable with pictures of myself being shown online when I am not able to monitor who sees them. What if I were standing in the window or by the street as the Google Earth camera car drove by taking photos? I could be seen by anyone who downloads the program. Perhaps this advanced mapping feature is just a little two "Big Brother" for my taste.