Google's Street View captures image of privacy critic
The new Street View feature of Google Maps provides 360 degree panoramic street-level views of New York City, San Francisco, Miami, Denver, and Las Vegas. Camera-equipped vehicles gathered the images while driving public streets. This feature - which will be expanded to include more cities - has raised some privacy concerns. Critics point to images of men leaving strip clubs, abortion clinic protesters, bikini-clad sunbathers, and one guy apparently picking his nose.
Before launching the service, Google removed photos of domestic violence shelters, and allows users to request the removal of inappropriate or sensitive images.
Kevin Bankston, staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, has emerged as a top critic of Street View. It turns out that Street View captured Bankston walking to work while smoking a cigarette. What's more, this isn't the first time the privacy crusader has been captured by street-mapping cameras.