Has Google become a modern, technological paparazzi?

Apparently, some folks are up in arms about Google Map's new "Street View" feature. The interesting thing to me, is not that people are being caught picking their nose or entering a strip club, but that people are reacting the same way celebrities do to paparazzi.

Of course, the big difference here, is that Google's cameras are not seeking to photograph people intentionally, nor in non-public view. What people don't realize is that you can rightfully be photographed any time you go into public.

In some places this is not a concern (mostly where you can't be easily identified as you, i.e. crowded places like train stations or busy city streets or huge riots :-) But when someone takes a photograph of us fixing ourselves when we thought the coast was clear…that is suddenly outrageous.

The outrage does not derive from Google, but instead the fact that Google is an Internet company and these images have a good chance of being seen by many a set of eyes. Think of all the photos you have where someone in the background is picking their nose, or making a weird face, or propositioning a hooker. (You know what I mean.) It wasn't a big deal to have those bits of our lives in other people's photos, because most of the world wouldn't see it, nor would they be scouring your negatives to find it.

So, has Google become the modern equivalent of a technological paparazzi? Maybe, but there's nothing you can do about it. Perhaps this will get people to think a little more before doing some of the things they do in public.