How Google Street Views Helps Criminals

Google has come up with several different programs and services during the last couple years. Many features that these programs offer are very helpful and make life more convenient. But there is a program that divides people's opinions; Google Street View got criticized heavily over the last years. While many people argue that this program takes away people's privacy, its effect on the society is even worse because it can help criminals to plan their crimes.

David de la Peña, an architect based in Davis, California argued in Siva Vaidhyanathan's book The Googlization of Everything, "[Google Street View] is a very useful tool that I use regularly on community design and streetscape projects." This shows that Google Street View can be a great program if people don't abuse it for illegal purposes. 

If we search the Internet, we can find tons of articles where people sued Google because of pictures that Google took in their neighborhood. Most of the time, people want to sue Google because inappropriate or embarrassing pictures of them can be seen on Google Street View. Google taking pictures from people's backyards and neighborhood is without a doubt a serious violation of someone’s privacy. But it's not only about that people can get embarrassed, it is a much bigger problem that criminals can use this program for their advantage.

An article found on About.com is about how criminals can use Google Street View to plan their crimes. The program makes it possible for everybody to locate entrances to buildings, to determine locations of security cameras, to find good hiding places, etc. Google certainly didn't mean to help criminals with planning their crimes but they actually did. There is no easier way to exactly check out neighborhoods without having to walk around there in person. A burglar can check out a certain house for hours without anybody knowing of it and that makes the program so helpful for criminals.

There is also a guidance how to make your house invisible in Google Street View included in this article and I highly recommend doing this to people that feel bad about the fact that everybody can check out their house online.

Google Street View can be a great program if somebody would like to check out the hotel where he is going to spend his holidays, if somebody wants to know how his High School looks like 15 years after his graduation, etc. But the negative side of Google Street View outbalances the positive; many people don't think that far but it can be a big help for criminals to plan their crimes.