Want to take a virtual drive down just about any street in Sacramento without ever leaving home? Now virtual cruising is no longer limited to the geeks playing Sim City. Like it or not, about ten days ago Google rolled out a new version of its controversial “Street View” of Google Maps, and Sacramento was one of six or so new locales now available for virtual Sunday drives.

If you’re not familiar with Street View, it’s an option on Google Maps (like satellite view), that allows any mouser with a capable index finger to navigate down many city streets, enjoying a 360 degree panoramic view of surrounding homes, vehicles, businesses and even human beings in extraordinary detail.

In fact, the detail is so impressive, early on Google was forced to implement both face and license plate recognition “blurring” software to ease outrage over some of the images captured and posted in blogs around the world (such as the one of the woman at left who was caught with her, uh, pants down as she leaned into her car as the Google mobile passed in front of her home).

Google mobile? Yeah, Google employs a small army of vehicles to take the ka-zillion images needed to provide the detail need for Street View. I have read it typically takes about three hundred drivers to snap up a small country (like Switzerland, who is apparently on the on-deck circle as I type).

Earlier, I typed in my parents’ address and was amazed to find a complete N/S/W/E view of their street and home. I took a screenshot and sent it to them. My Mom promptly dismissed the technology as an invasion of privacy; my Dad demanded I write something about it in my blog. At their behest I researched the topic and related news a bit (with the help of my fascinated 13 year old, who almost immediately reported a search of her friend’s street had revealed a partial view of her backyard swimming pool slide).

As I suspected, Street View is perfectly legal–at least in the U.S. Google–or anyone else with a loaded Canon, for that matter–does not need one’s permission or consent to show their car, home, or person (e.g., walking out of The Embers strip club during work hours, or, e.g., doing push-ups on their front law while collecting disability), as long as the shot was captured from a public location, and is not used in a film or to endorse a product. In fact Google is actually providing a courtesy to people by now blurring faces and license plates—which came a bit too late for a burglar who was captured in one of the early Google runs scaling a wall on his way to a robbery.

Sorry Mom and Dad, your house has now been immortalized on Google Street View forever. But look on the bright side, IF you ever go to sell it, people can have a look around your beautiful neighborhood without ever leaving home.

Sources:

http://maps.google.com
http://wikipedia.com

More info:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/01/technology/01private.html?ref=business
http://mashable.com/2007/05/31/top-15-google-street-view-sightings/