Back in the UK after three weeks away on holiday (and three Internet-free weeks to boot), to the maelstrom of debate about the Google StreetView app that launched the week before last for Great Britain.
It's a remarkable application. From a technical perspective, the data volumes, the collation of imaging and geographic data, the sheer “wow” factor… a lot of debate, meanwhile, about potential invasions of privacy. In the paper this morning there was a story about a divorce proceeding that has begun as a result of an unfaithful husband's car being parked outside of his mistress' home.
On reflection of three weeks in Australia, one of the things that I felt was a sense of liberation that I wasn't being tracked by CCTV whereever I was – a sense that I never get in London. Conversely, every single place that we stayed in Oz is available to view on StreetView…
mmitII 