There is, however, one place that people should have a “reasonable expectation of privacy” and that is where they live. When Google, Microsoft and other mapping companies first started putting satellite maps on the internet for everyone to see we saw the writing on the wall. Someone would use this information for malicious purposes. It was not long before it came true and now there have been several terrorist and other attacks planned and executed using these online services.

Now the satellites that Google and others have access to are not that detailed (trust me there are MUCH better up there) so while things were bad they were not as bad as they could have been. Google and Microsoft also (at first) agreed to blur certain things out to prevent the possibility of it being used by the wrong people.

Shortly after Google Maps came Street View. Here there are too many violations of privacy, law and other items to list. We can remember multiple instances where a Street View Driver drove up a posted private drive (the street was not public and had a sign stating no trespassing). Google has gotten away with so many violations with this project that it is not funny. It is also worth noting that there have been reported cases of criminals using Street View and Google Maps to identify features of houses and neighborhoods when preparing for robberies and even home invasions.

Now that there is even greater competition between Apple, Microsoft and Google we are hearing that they are employing aerial reconnaissance using both camera equipped drones and traditional aerial photography. So you now have the “spy” planes of three companies that might begin flying over the public’s houses taking very high resolution images of their property without any thing in place to protect the individuals that might be photographed.

This has led at least one Congressman to ask that Google and Apple put some of these protections in place. Although he mentions the public in his letters to both Apple and Google he is really talking about the potential that high-resolution imagery of national services (infrastructure etc.), military installation and other possible targets would suddenly become available to … well anyone.

If Google and Apple do not comply with these requests (as they are not laws at all, just suggestions) it will certainly lead to a further erosion of our already fading consumer and public protection laws. It could also spawn a greater paranoia in our elected officials who will not doubt look into creating more laws to monitor internet traffic to just to see who is looking at maps online.

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