

A Chat with a Google Street View Driver - pierrefar
http://ekstreme.com/thingsofsorts/fun-web/chatting-with-a-google-street-view-driver

======
kylec
I find it interesting that the driver had been stopped by "10 people"
concerned about the privacy of Google Street View in the same country that has
thousands of CCTV cameras lining the streets.

~~~
lpgauth
I was thinking the same thing, the CCTV camera concentration in the UK is the
highest in the world.

~~~
axod
The difference is, CCTV are pretty much used to solve crimes... They do a very
very good job at it as well. You don't see the footage from CCTV cameras
ending up on the internet in general.

With the google thing, you _know_ it's going to be published.

------
rufo
Are the laws concerning taking pictures that much different in the UK than the
US, or just the attitude?

In the US, if you take a picture on the street and there are people in the
background, my understanding is that you don't need permission - they're in a
public place and you're taking a picture. Is that not the case in the UK?

~~~
dkokelley
I believe the general mindset in most places is: "Public place, public
property" meaning that if you are out "in public," you have no right to
complain about others being able to see you, or take pictures that might have
you in them. You are out in a public area and have no right to remove the
freedom of others to take pictures of public areas. If you don't want to be in
them, avoid the cameras, stay inside, or wear a veil (or mask, hoodie, etc.).

The issue is in deciding when the others (Google, in this case) abuse their
freedom to take pictures. Where should we draw the line? Obviously cameras
should be allowed in public places. Should pictures of others only be
permitted for private use? Google wants to use the pictures with you in it to
make them money. The paparazzi have a lot of freedom in taking and publishing
pictures of others. Is this the same as what Google is doing? Is what the
paparazzi doing crossing the line also?

------
bprater
The white things are LIDAR units. It's a laser range finder often used for
robotics car competitions. It's the most accurate way to measure distance.

If you wonder how it works: the unit has a spinning mirror. It sends out
pulses of laser light as the mirror spins and measures how quickly the light
takes to return after it hits an object to return to a sensor on the unit. If
you know how fast light moves and have a fast processor, you can measure
distance.)

Because they are being used sideways, they sweep from sky to ground measuring
distance. They are probably being used to "map" buildings as they drive by, so
that the data could be used to create better 3D maps.

(They aren't perfect: reliability includes a variety of factors including
environment [how do bushes and trees affect laser measurement] and distance
[range may only be 50ft for instance])

------
tlrobinson
Interesting, I didn't realize they had LIDAR as well.

I bet they also record WiFi and cell tower location data for geolocation (i.e.
Android). If you're going to drive thousands of miles, you might as well
record as much data as you can the first time...

~~~
khafra
Search up "skyhook" for information on the program that's indexed wifi
hotspots for a rather ominous hybrid geolocation system; and zoom in on cities
in google map view for the general contours of large buildings, which is
pretty useful.

------
GavinB
I'm suprised that no one mentioned the irony of the google street view driver
not wanting to have his picture taken in a public place . . .

------
cypress-hill
wtf is there to talk about???

"do you drive all over the city taking pictures??"

"yes"

