Google street view......

[Arch]

I suppose it depends on the definition of "private". I have met loads of people who claim that they live in "private" areas, yet have no idea that they are classed as "public".

We collect from a place that has padlocked and combination locked gates on some access points, but then has completely open gateways on other corners! I always take special delight in walking across the grass there. It's not forbidden, but I like to clump my steel toed boots on it nice and hard. Up the workers! etc etc.

I've found Google street view very useful on occasion when planning bike rides, to get an idea of what a road junction looks like (finding a good place to cross the A1 for example), or to check out some complicated or unclear directions. I have no problem with it. I wish they'd hurry up and do bike paths, then I could tell which to avoid due to gates etc.

 

[ufkacbln]

Ok, what were you up to when the google car went past?

A link would be NSFW, but you weren't in a certain alley in Manchester?

 

[Moodyman]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Having stolen details of your wireless network, I'm sure Google will be in touch with you shortly.

Indeed, the state and large corporations hold and use far more of our information than we realise, yet we moan about a picture of our front drive.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Nothing

I was checking to see if our new extension could be seen from space and just happened to zoom in too far which jumped to streetview without me using the little man thing. Because I had searched for the address it actually jumped to a shot looking straight up the drive at the front door.

Why would I want to look at somebody else's house?

I think you need to get out more. Google Streetview will give you some ideas for places to go.

 

[ayceejay]

I have mixed feelings because it is a useful tool but I can understand someone feeling that they have lost a bit more of their privacy.
I sent someone to do a job in Montreal but I couldn't remember the street number, I checked with Google and found the number I was looking for. The odd thing was that I was in the picture walking up to the front door, now that made me look over my shoulder - call it paranoia if you must.

 

[Ladytrucker]

In my last house my deeds said I had ownership out to the centre of the road but it was only for utility connections. Our builders paid a bond to the highways agency for road maintenance which means they adopt the road. Otherwise you are responsible for potholes, drainage and street lights. I would be very worried if I had to pay for such things.

 

[Sara_H]

I was checking to see if our new extension could be seen from space

Ha ha! Saddo! I can see my sons goal posts and (I think) my dog in the google earth view, so an extension should be clearly visible, unless it's smaller than a labrador!

 

[Sara_H]

Ha ha! Just had another look at my house and the Google Earth picture has changed since I last looked.

On google earth my OH's car is in the drive, but if you zoom in too close it changes to the older street view picture and my ex husbands car is in the drive! I feel like a right trollop!

 

[Matthew_T]

I think cameras v privacy is a very mixed subject. On one side, it is perfectly legal to film on public highways. However, filming on public highways can easily film peoples private property and possibly the interior of the home. So it is taking some privacy away from people.
But the only way around this is to either make filming anywhere illegal (I doubt this would happen due to the amount of complaints it would get) or just film literally the road (which would not be very useful to anyone).

Its difficult to have an opinion but I think everything is okay as it is as long as Google continue to blur stuff out (I dont understand why the blur road signs out though. They arent private).

 

[ayceejay]

Isn't it already illegal to photograph the police in certain areas?

 

[Kookas]

But the only way around this is to either make anywhere illegal (I doubt this would happen due to the amount of complaints it would get) or just film literally the road (which would not be very useful to anyone).

Or for the concerned homeowner, if they're really that worried, to stick up some curtains, or at least blinds. What do people worry about, exactly?

I could walk past your house, if I wanted, and you wouldn't even know. I might even, if I'm a smart burglar, narrow down the roads I walk down to the nicer areas, where the houses with all the best loot are. If I were efficient, I'd do it on a bike (that I most likely stole).

I could take down every little detail in a notepad, and at a glance, you'd just think I was lost. I'd look like I was checking a map, or maybe doing some artwork, or hell, just another resident doing a bit of work in the sun.

Are you worried about your personal privacy? You should probably put some clothes on.

 

[I like Skol]

Well, some really useful replies there! I suppose I should have expected it really.

Does anybody actually know how Google operate in these situations and if they actually engage with the complainant or will I just get the big brush-off after a series of automated semi-replies?

 

[avalon]

Sorry, it's just irresistible sometimes.
I would expect you would get the brush off from Google but it might be worth contacting them. You never know.

 

[annedonnelly]

Well, some really useful replies there! I suppose I should have expected it really.

Does anybody actually know how Google operate in these situations and if they actually engage with the complainant or will I just get the big brush-off after a series of automated semi-replies?

I requested via their form that they remove the image of my house and they did so. I don't live on a private road and simply explained that I lived there and I didn't want it shown. That was about four or five years ago. I haven't checked whether they have replaced it since.

 

[mr_cellophane]

http://www.privateroads.co.uk/about-private-roads/background.aspx

Private roads (also known as "unadopted roads") are different in that they don't belong to the local authority, and the local authority is not under a legal duty to maintain them. But a private road may nonetheless be a highway for one or more classes of traffic. A private road can become a highway through use by the public over a period of time. Private through-roads sometimes become highways in this way, though private cul-de-sacs rarely do so. (Whether a public right of way exists for mechanically propelled vehicles depends also upon the effect of Part 6 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, which came into effect on 2 May 2006. This extinguished public rights of way for mechanically-propelled vehicles in many private roads.)