Should the Police Be Concerned With Google Street View?

October 20, 2009

Google Street View is finally made available to the Canadian public and the responses are phenomenal. You may have already experimented with Google Street View and like most users, you’re probably shocked at the high resolution image that you are seeing of your own house and your neighbourhood. Google Street View provide users with the ability to zoom, rotate, and pan through street-level images of Canadian cities.

Ever since its launch in Canada a few weeks earlier, this new Internet technology has raised some serious concerns for home security inspectors. The clarity of the images provide any user with Internet access to get a good look at your home and analyze your security installations. Although the images on Google Street View are not the most recent images of your neighbourhood, it does not provide home owners with a peace of mind knowing that people can be viewing their home on a computer screen without knowing their intentions.

However, the Ottawa Police does not believe Google Street View will be a concern for them. They have not received any concerns from the general public yet and on the other hand, they believe Google Street View can actually be used as a tool for police force to inspect an area prior to sending officers to an endangered location.

What are your opinions on Google Street View? Should it be a concern or not for law enforcement?