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NSFW: There is a bit of cursing and slightly explicit material in this post.
It seems Google is everywhere nowadays. The tech giant has dibs on all our information, owning some of the most popular services in the world – like Gmail, Android, Chrome/Chromium OS, Google TV, Google Maps, Google Search (of course) and soon they will even have self-driven Google cars taking you everywhere. All of this information is used to make your life easier and improve advertising, but just how far can Google go before raising some major privacy concerns?
This video from thekloons takes Google’s omnipresence to make a funny, but worrisome video of how far things could get if Google continues to grow at this rate. The video displays a theoretical feature called “House View,” which would allow anyone to see inside of houses with pictures taken by a little Google robot.
We may be giggling right now, but there might come a point when privacy does become a concern. One of the best features of Android 4.2 is Photo Sphere, bringing us the ability to take 360-degree pictures and uploading them to Google Maps. These immersive images would then be available for the world to see on Street View. Pretty Nifty, right? No doubt, it would be fun to share our experiences with friends and family in full detail. Hell, you can even put your room in Street View… or uncaring visitors could do it for you.
While some people may be indifferent about it, many of us would be very uncomfortable about having our private space readily available for anyone’s viewing pleasure. Especially if you have kids to worry about, or criminals in your neighborhood. Google should definitely have an option to remove Photo Spheres from Google Maps if these happen to invade people’s privacy. There are still some concerns, though, as some naughty images have definitely slipped through Google’s hands in the past.
On the other hand, this can be a great feature we don’t want to let go of. You can share your hiking adventures better, or check out museums and historic landmarks more interactively. Users can take advantage of Photo Sphere to expand a business, by letting others see the premises. How about making your house available in Google Maps Street View if you have it for sale? The possibilities are endless, but there definitely needs to be some privacy control.
With all of this in mind – how do you guys feel about the new Photo Sphere features in Android 4.2? Would you mind having 360-degree images of your house online? Would it be too hard for Google to monitor and curate appropriate Photo Spheres? You can go ahead and participate in our poll or sound off in the comments with your own opinions!
[polldaddy poll=6675684]
lol nice google keep on the good work
what if google already did? gmail, android phone, and map?
here is a 360º-view of inside my fridge. this is so I can go grocery shopping and not need a list.
Here is a 360º-view of my toilet…shitty picture huh?
here is a….
You make a good point. I don’t think many people would even want to see into the average Android user’s home…
“the average Android user”
I on the other hand, would be interested to see the difference between the dwellings of iSheep and Droid-fans.
We would probably rather see the insides of the average iphone users house.
That was hilarious xD
Eh. The robot closing in on them at the very end was all that could garner a chuckle out of me.
The video’s screemingly funny, very well done.
I’ll gladly partake in House view BETA. I think it would be awesome! Where can I sign up? My neighbor will probably pass though, he has at least 8 “plants” in his yard, and i doubt it’s for medicinal use.
Well you sure have “NOTHING TO HIDE” then! :) … ‘cept your full-auto assault rifle collection… and the Obama gun target on the wall … and the 19 empty boxes of kleenex that the Photo Sphere happened to capture. Ya never know what someone else will think is incriminating.
Well, I would just create the photo sphere myself, and verify the photo before posting it. Also, I do not have politicians photos as targets. I use standard silhouette targets.
so, just because it’s a black rifle makes it a “full auto assault rifle”? You do understand that a crime has never been committed with a legally owned fully automatic rifle? Also, the cheapest full-auto you can get costs a cool 7K, let along an M16 that would run you around 15K, plus all the paperwork the BATF can come up with. His rifle is no different then the firearms you see in the hands of hunters, one pull of the trigger = one bullet, no more, no less. Contrary to popular belief, black does not change the internals of the firearm.
Blah blah. I’m neither pro or anti gun nut.
I thought I’d seen a video like that in the past. Funny nonetheless
Don’t Google’s servers use facial and text recognition to blur a lot of that stuff out? I mean, it’s not necessarily perfect, but they are making an effort. I’ve been through street view a lot, and I’ve looked at a lot of faces and license plates, but all of them were blurred out.
That video was funny.
Idiotic to be mixing personal photographs with Google Maps. I don’t want FaceSphere, where some random map searcher sees our personal lives. They need to be separate.
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Did anyone else notice the two options. Ok or Ok.
It should be called google stalksphere
Big Brother’s watching you…