“Uh uh, Google.” (Photo: Blogger)
Sassy hand-gesturer and potentially technophobic New York Senator Charles Schumer has some serious concerns about the privacy of New Yorkers’ backyards. In a letter to Google and Apple published yesterday on his website, the Senator concern-trolled the tech companies over their 3D map technology, which uses fly-over cameras to construct the images.
“Barbequing or sunbathing in your backyard shouldn’t be a public event,” said Senator Schumer in a statement while presumably wearing a “Kiss the cook!” apron and brandishing a six-pack of hot dogs. “People should be free from the worry of some high-tech peeping Tom technology violating one’s privacy when in your own home.”
In order to protect the privacy of New York’s heavy-voting sunbather constituency, Senator Schumer proposed the following provisions on Google and Apple’s mapping techniques:
1) Provide notification to communities as to when you plan to conduct mapping
2) Automatically blur photos of individuals who are captured, and give property owners the right to opt-out of having the company map their homes
3) Put protocols in place with law enforcement and local municipalities to ensure that sensitive infrastructure details are blurred from published maps
Jessica Roy is a reporter for Betabeat and the New York Observer. Follow Jessica on Twitter or via RSS. jroy@observer.com
