More on Google/Keyhole satellite imagery
Here’s some mainstream coverage on the new Google Maps satellite imagery feature I wrote about earlier, which highlights the privacy aspect of making the data available.
As mentioned in the CNN article, the image data isn’t live, but typically 6 to 12 months old, and doesn’t have timestamps, which should eliminate the privacy concerns for most people. It won’t let you hide a major construction project in your backyard, but no one’s going to be able to check whether your car is at home or not, and even at the maximum resolution provided it would be hard to make out a car at all.
Online search engine leader Google Inc. has unveiled a new feature that will enable its users to zoom in on homes and businesses using satellite images, an advance that may raise privacy concerns as well as intensify the competitive pressures on its rivals.
The satellite technology, which Google began offering late Monday at http://maps.google.com/, is part of the package that the Mountain View-based company acquired when it bought digital map maker Keyhole Corp. for an undisclosed amount nearly six months ago.
This marks the first time since the deal closed that Google has offered free access to Keyhole’s high-tech maps through its search engine. Users previously had to pay $29.95 to download a version of Keyhole’s basic software package.
It might be useful and a bigger privacy concern if there were a link next to the satellite image to purchase higher resolution, more current, or live imagery. I suppose you could already patch something like that together using the lat/long data from Google Maps, a subscription to one of the paid services, and some web services glue.
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