With citizen journalism bringing the public minute-by-minute blogs, photo updates and independent news reports, young people are becoming increasingly concerned about their privacy on the Internet. Google, Inc's introduction of Google Maps' Street View application in May 2007 has, in many cases, only added to concerns.
Like Google Earth, another mapping function introduced in 2005, Street View is a tool that enables users to view actual photos of real locations.
The two tools differ, however, in that Google Earth provides aerial coverage from a satellite, whereas Street View uses "image-technology" vehicles to capture 360-degree photos at street level.
The technology was initially used in only five cities, but has since grown to include images of 23 cities and additional suburban areas. Street View's Boston coverage was introduced on Dec. 10 of last year and includes shots of nearly the entire Tufts campus.
Street View and related tools claim to "further Google's commitment to provide users with the most innovative maps available online," according to Google's May 2007 press release introducing the mapping device.
According to Google, the motivation behind creating Street View came purely from a general public desire to obtain a more full-bodied sense of the world's geography.
"Our users have told us that this ability to view a location as if they were actually there helps them better understand and find information about the places they live and visit," Google representative Elaine Filadelfo told the Daily in an e-mail.
But while the product may provide innovative new mapping technology, not everyone has embraced the tool with open arms. College students in particular may be some of the nation's most vocal opponents to Google's new mapping tool, especially as most campus streets are considered "public property" and thus can be freely documented by Google's cameras.
Since Chicago, Ill. and Providence, R.I. became recent additions to the Street View city roster last December, school papers at Northwestern and Brown University have run articles illuminating students' increasing uneasiness over the new program.
The issue of privacy concern lies not so much in the documentation of university buildings but rather in the documentation of actual students, who, in some cases, are fully recognizable thanks to Google's zoom feature.
Tufts sophomore Jeremy Strauss, who is also a columnist for the Daily, is one such student. Pictured outside of South Hall, Strauss is visible using Street View.
"I was talking with a friend and he was showing me the new feature [Street View]," Strauss said. "And he showed me that it was at Tufts, and he surprised me by asking if I knew someone who was standing outside South Hall. He zoomed in on the person, and it was me. It was a big surprise."
Since Street View's launch last May, there have been several cases of privacy-breaching images, ranging from license plate visibility to an image of an unsuspecting man entering an X-rated bookstore in northern California. On the collegiate front, two bikini-clad women were captured sunbathing on Stanford University's quad in Palo Alto, Ca.
Strauss said that while he is not alarmed by his own appearance on the feature because he is pictured in sunglasses, he understands the privacy concerns many students face.
"I think they [some students pictured] certainly have a right to be angry," he said. "I'm not upset about it because I don't think that it's that big of a deal because it's a picture of me wearing sunglasses. It could be anyone. But at the same time, I think it's very strange that a truck just drove through campus one day taking pictures and didn't bother blurring anyone's face."
Strauss emphasized that showing faces does little to help the goals of Street View, which are to help people more clearly visualize a location.
"The whole point of the feature is to give people a more clear view [when they need directions]," he said. "So there's no place for showing anyone's face because it really doesn't add anything to the feature, and in a lot of cases, I'm sure that it is an invasion of privacy."
In Google's defense, Filadelfo claimed users can report inappropriate imagery for immediate removal from the site.
"We routinely review takedown requests and act quickly to remove objectionable imagery," she said.
In addition to the "report objectionable image" option, Google also limits the areas that can be covered by Street View in order to protect users' privacy. For example, while Google users are able to peruse the major streets of Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus like Professors Row, Packard Ave., and Boston Ave., they can't access more private portions of the university, like the residential quad.
"[Street View] only features imagery taken on public property," said Filadelfo. "This imagery is no different from what any person can readily capture or see walking down the street."
Regardless of Google's claim, many students still feel like the feature is an invasion of their privacy, and some are claiming the tool ventures into "Big Brother" territory.
Sophomore Andrew Helms, like Strauss, was against the idea of drivers taking pictures of campus without doing something to protect students pictured.
"I would think that [Google] would need to have the pictured people sign some sort of release form. The whole thing is kind of creepy, like someone is watching us."
After Helms did a little experimentation with the Street View option on the Tufts campus, he was surprised to find that the tool wasn't available in his hometown of Washington, DC.
Due to issues of homeland security, Google's Street View tool has been delayed from being used in the District of Columbia and its surrounding suburbs. Street View coverage has also been limited in Canada, where the privacy laws differ from those in the States.
Where it is permitted, however, further modifications have been made to abide by the conditions set up by the Canadian government - like blurring license plate numbers and obscuring faces so that individuals cannot be recognized.
Despite local backlash and tricky privacy stipulations, Google still plans to extend the Street View option far beyond the current coverage of 23 cities.
"Our goal is to provide Street View imagery for regions throughout the world; at this time we're focused on providing Street View imagery for as many cities as possible," Filadelfo said. "We will be adding Street View imagery for new cities on an ongoing basis."
Carrie Battan contributed reporting this article.
