A Pittsburgh couple has sued Google seeking the removal of photographs that were a little to up close and personal for their tastes.
The couple, Aaron and Catherine Boring, have succeeded in getting the photos yanked from the site, but the industrious minds over at the Smoking Gun found another even more intrusive set of photos taken by the search giant.
The home of Janet and George McKee is the only property on Goldenbrook Lane, a narrow, gravel path off Oakleaf Lane, a two-way street. The McKee residence is at the end of Goldenbrook Lane, which the family was able to name at the time their home was built in 1993. As the “Street View” images show, a Google vehicle–outfitted with a roof-mounted camera taking 360-degree images–drove down the gravel path and onto the paved driveway leading to the McKee home. The Google car continued past the steps leading to the McKees’s front door and came to a stop outside the house’s three-car garage (and next to the family’s trampoline and portable basketball rim). Taking photos all the time, the Google vehicle was squarely on private property, a fact that presumably should have been apparent when the gravel path became paved.
Janet McKee, who was unaware of the “Street View” images until contacted by TSG, said that it was “a little bit creepy to think of someone filming our home without me knowing about it.”
And it was probably even creepier when the Smoking Gun called to compliment her on the family basketball hoop.
Oh, who the hell are we kidding. We’re just looking for an excuse to post this picture again.
Google Street View, you are the source of endless amusement.
Warning: Google Is In Your Driveway! [The Smoking Gun]
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@Diet-Orange-Soda: You know, while I might cut somebody some slack on the trespassing thing for turning around in my driveway, it’s a little different if they drive up my driveway, take pictures of everything around, and then post them on the Internet.
So maybe you’re not creeped out about it — but I am, and since they are trespassing when they take pictures like this, the law actually backs up this particular privacy preference.
And, again, this particular house isn’t visible from the street. So there is a reasonable expectation of privacy from casual observation.
@Alger: Of course. But I doubt Google actually thought “hey! lets post these images that we accidentally took and had no right to take!” nor did they think “Let’s drive down this random person’s driveway and take pictures of their house and put it on the internet!”
Should the pictures have been taken down? yes.
Were they taken down? Yes.
Is there any damage caused to the owners of the house? I highly doubt it.
Not as good as google street picture of a driver’s side window money transaction with bystander in the street taken in a bad part of town posted on jalopnik recently. The photo van even got the license plate of the car!!!
Sheesh… the cameras were no closer to the house and the pictures are in no greater detail than the pictures all down my street… most of the houses here are close to the street with a small front yard and larger back yard, so it’s 40 feet or so from my living room window to the street where the camera vehicle drove by.
Since my driveway doesn’t have a city street sign on it like theirs does, no one drove down it. If you don’t like the occasional mistaken driver driving down your driveway, replace the cutesy city street sign with a “PRIVATE DRIVE” sign. If you care so much about keeping people off your land, a simple sign will eliminate most of the problem.
Unless Google resisted or ignored a duly served request to remove the images, I think the whole thing is ridiculous. If they took the images down with reasonable speed, they should counter for legal fees. I’m sure Google could rack up quite a bill.
@bonzombiekitty: It might be a K turn where you are, but its a 3 point turn here. And I don’t know how big you think this vehicle is, it would be easily possible to pull into the driveway and back onto the road and drive back down. Anyone should be able to do that unless the guy is driving a Semi. You can clearly see there is plenty of room, there isn’t woods all over on that road, look at the first picture, its a long sweeping curve, you should easily be able to do make a 3 point turn there.
The reason for this screwup is simple– the Google Street View vehicle isn’t driven by a human, it’s a bot.
I don’t know why the article says the images were taken down. I fired up Google Maps and you can still street view the whole thing.
Everyone seems to be talking about the wrong people here. The people with the basketball court didn’t sue – they just said it was creepy, right? So stop being so nasty.
@gqcarrick: the only distinction between the driveway and the road is that it is paved vs. unpaved. the driveway doesn’t turn off the road – it is an extention of the road. so they could not “turn into the driveway then back into the road” as that would be pulling forward than reversing – no turning involved. When you look at the smoking gun images, you can tell that they drove that far until they got to the spot large enough to turn around, turned around, and left.
I still don’t see a problem with them being on a private road. If there are multiple houses on the road, then its not a driveway. my house is on a private road – thats still the road that my address is, so if someone types in my address to try and get directions to it, googlemaps needs to know where it is.
@Alger: You are absolutely right. Private property…Keep Out. The number one reason I have NRA “Firearms in Use – Keep Out” signs posted every 50′ around my farm.
If there’s a street sign (there is) and there is no warning of Private Drive/Property (there isn’t) and there is no opportunity to turn around without going on mud and leaving rutts (there isn’t), then the driver was doing his/her job. They were driving the streets, and went out of their way to not damage the soft shoulder and turn around in a driveway, which was the first place encountered with enough space to do so.
Thank you, Google driver, for not leaving rutts on the shoulder and protecting the gravel road from erosion in the process.
Today you are a hero to rural (or at least secluded) property owners everywhere.
Next time I’d shut off the camera when I cross onto the paved driveway… k?
@hellinmyeyes: No one’s comfortable with what happened to the couple but no one approves of what the couple is doing either.
Many streets in America do suddenly become private roads and the way to prevent public traffic from entering your property is using a sign that says “private drive” or “private property” or “no trespassing” etc.
They could have easily asked Google to take down their information but they decided to go the sue-happy route “because that’s the only way to do it with big corporations.” They’re just a whiny couple that wants a couple hundred thousand. Hope Google gets it dismissed so they don’t have to pay them a dime (maybe even countersue these bastards).
@matsayz: Hooray Streisand effect!
@Milstar: Come down my driveway…meet a gun!
@gqcarrick: I think you are misunderstanding the point I am trying to make. There’s is no driveway to “turn into”. From my understanding the road suddenly becomes the driveway – they are one and the same.
@bonzombiekitty: And to add to my last comment. No, I do not think there is enough room to turn around on the road in the first picture. There’s a decline on one side of the road with grass and grass and trees on on the other side. It’s not possible to do a K turn there without going off the road, which is dangerous to do on one side due to the small hill, and risk damaging grass on both sides of the road. The courteous thing to do is continue until there’s enough room to turn around on a paved/gravel area.
This surpasses anything George Orwell imagined. We’ve reached a whole new level of “creepy.” Not to mention downright scary.
@bonzombiekitty: No, Google didn’t think that. But they set up a creepy privacy-invading “service”, and they didn’t put any safeguards in place to avoid exactly this situation.
As for the damages, there’s the implicit damage caused by trespass. And by the violation of privacy.
Of course, the homeowner made it worse by suing instead of asking for the take-down, but that doesn’t excuse the original offense here.
@bonzombiekitty: Yes, that’s part of the “courteous thing to do”.
The other part of the “courteous thing to do” is TURN OFF THE CAMERAS WHILE YOU’RE ON PRIVATE PROPERTY.
Obviously their 50cal auto targeting and firing machine guns were offline at the time.
Ech!
I grew up about a mile from this place. In defense of the couple, this road is so far off the beaten path that I might feel a little like my privacy was violated.
That said, they are still douchebags.
@Nicholas_schaulsohn:
Absolutely! Google has the right to do anything they want. Google deserves absolute control. Google is my master.
@Alger: The safeguard they have in place is a very simple way to report inappropriate images. When you find something that should not be there, click “Street View Help”. You’ll then see this (at the bottom of the page):
Report Inappropriate Image
Google takes concerns about its services very seriously. Please use the link below to report concerns about an inappropriate street view.
Then click “Report Inappropriate Image”.
So much easier than filing suit.
No big deal, at their request google will remove the images.
blaming the victim: they should put up a gate. (not really blame, but really, I bet they’re going to think about putting up a gate of some kind now.)
blaming google: they shouldn’t drive all the way up a driveway to a house to turn around, with the camera turned on.
Well, If I had a long driveway (basically a private road) with my house (that wasnt visible from the road) at the end of it…. I wouldnt want google taking pics of it all & then posting it online. Its private property, not public. I grew up in a rural area where there were a lot of very long driveways…. its so people can have their privacy.
It wouldnt be hard to believe that a criminal would use google maps/streetview to scope out secluded properties to case & rob.
Hobbyists in the metal detecting community do it (not to rob, but to scope out prospective areas to gain permission to metal detect on).
And to all those saying…. “just tell google to remove the pictures & they will do it”, ….. by then the damage is already done (meaning pics of your private property have been posted publicly online for anyone to see.
Private property protection in rural areas is a serious thing. It isnt the same as in some suburb. When you have property out in the sticks, where it takes forever for the local sherrif to come IF you ever need them, you are basically on your own when it comes to protecting it & yourself. Sometimes you dont want someone scoping out your place for no good reason (and google maps made it easy for people to do so in this instance).
May have been already mentioned…
The are bringing more attention to themselves by doing this.
@hazelwoodfarm: here’s a tip for you, tough guy – no one cares about you or your property, so just put your little gun away.
@SOhp101: “(maybe even countersue these bastards).”
…counterclaim for what, pray tell?
@bonzombiekitty: [about suing for it]
I’ll concede that a lot of people are particularly litigious over simple things these days, but the lawsuit is a particularly effective means of getting a corporation to end ridiculous practices. The whole mental anguish argument is pretty much crap, but it’s their means of making sure Google, et al, don’t continue this kind of invasive publishing. That’s what the civil courts are there for.
I do agree with a couple of the posts that suggest that people in this kind of property situation should put up “private drive” signs, but that doesn’t mean the pictures should’ve been taken and published in the first place.
@ikes:
You should read my earlier posts… because I assume you dont live on a remote property where you just may NEED a firearm to protect yourself IF anything happens. And where it takes the local sheriff forever to arrive.
I grew up in a nice , calm, quiet rural area. Where neighbors knew each other. Then one day some local punks from the nearby town decided to rob one of the houses on our road that were on vacation. The neighbor next door saw an unfamiliar car in the driveway & knew the residents were on vacation & went to check it out. The two punks killed the guy as he approached. COme to find out that he had called the sheriff about it, but they were too busy to check it out in a timely manner. Too bad he didnt have a firearm on him when he went over.
People who live in remote areas…. NEEED to have & own firearms.
oh man i love street view. i was telling my friend about a Supra i saw in a neighborhood near me. i drive past there all the time (many times a week) and never saw the car before. i looked it up on streetview to show them the house i saw it at, and lo and behold the supra was in the driveway in the picture. freakin crazy
@Diet-Orange-Soda: Yea, but you can see a plastic lawn chair in the county assesors pic…
Oh no, and now your name, address, the pictures they took, and everything else about you is on the internet for all to see! Sue in a court and keep your privacy! No one will ever know about you now!
I’m sure everyone in the world really gives a shit about your house you fucking egomaniacs. Goddamn, I mean I WAS going to check out Wall St. or maybe Michigan Dr. but fuck, everyone knows the REAL action is at 1234 Whogivesafuck Lane!
Boring thread. Yawn.
(sorry! devil made me do it)
@forgottenpassword:
That sure is a nice tramampoline ya’ll got there… I’m sure it’ll fit nicely in the back of my Accord.
I don’t think you get as much info from a picture of a house as you get from oh, I don’t know, walking up to the door, knocking on it, pretending you’re selling Girl Scout cookies, checking for a dog, etc etc etc etc etc etc etsdkfs;dkfms
@trujunglist:
clever thieves use all kinds of resources to find out about the places they rob from. The clever ones are the ones that rarely get caught. Its the desperate dipshit thieves who dont plan anything out that often get caught.
ANd thieves will steal ANYTHING. from a trampoline to all kinds of goodies inside the house.
Nevermind the fact its easier for someone to scope out a bunch of places online (via googlemaps/streetview) than to physically drive out & walk up the driveway.
Keep in mind that a lot of thieves are neighborhood kids just looking for something to do out in the sticks. Living in a rural are, we had all kinds of things stolen out of the barns.
Also…. people living in rural areas dont get many strangers coming up to their door. Its suspicous when someone DOES. Thieves might want to avoid that.
The best part of the “follow-up” when their homeowner’s insurance company cancels them for having a trampoline (shown in picture). You have a better shot of keeping your homeowners policy in place if you own a couple of pitbulls with attitude problems then one of those.
Once that gets in the CLUE database their life is going to be fun.
You don’t have to label your driveway “private” for it to be so, just like a “NO TRESPASSING” sign isn’t needed to file a trespassing complaint.
all those that think these people have no valid complaint, I expect to see pictures of outside and inside of your domicile posted on your profile here or a link to the posting. Will be checking tomorrow and if you don’t, i will have to call you out for your hypocrisy on my blog. i will add my blog’s link to my profile tomorrow. have a nice day.
And here Consumerist is reposting the Google Images. Shall we not also condemn this site for public invasion, or whatever we’re pissed off at Google for? No – wait – it’s okay for this site to do it because somebody else already did it.
It kind of surprises me that people on this site seem so blase about this. Having a street level view of anyone’s house, available to anyone who wants to look, seems like a bit of an invasion of privacy… sure it’s no worse than someone who walks by, but my house is available for people on the street to see who walk PAST MY HOUSE.. not someone on the internet thousands of miles away.
Definitely creepy, even beyond this story. I think Street View is cool for commercial areas, etc, but residential is an entirely different story.
Just by looking at their house Im sure they can afford a gate and probably should if they are that anal. Of course they probably got all that money by suing big companies for stupid trivial little things.
@forgottenpassword: Please explain the damage? I see none.
@Concerned_Citizen:
Having your private property showcased on google streetview for everyone to see. That is “damage”. As in privacy illegally invaded.
Its his private property & the owner has a say over who can or cant take a picture of it from ON said private property.
If the guy had a house that could easily been photographed from the street, then there is no issue. But this isnt the case.
You cannot go onto someone’s property & take pictures of it without their permission. Just as simple as that.
@forgottenpassword:
Sorry but I have no sympathy for the rich. Us poor people cant AFFORD to live in seclusion therefor we have no privacy? if everyone cant have complete privacy then no one should
@Blinker:
RICH???? Do you know that a LOT of rural properties (where land is cheaper) have long driveways? And a lot are hardly “rich”! If you get out far enough, land can be pretty cheap.
You dont really need to be rich to live in “seclusion”. The dirt-poor neighbors I had growing up owned a tiny piece of property & one trailer on it…. and they lived in seclusion because it was VERY far off the road, covered in trees and were bordered by other’s land.
Btw…. My parents owned about 80 rural acres that they paid on for most of their lives & believe me…. they were FAR from “rich”. I’d say lower middle class at best.
Seems to me that this is more about getting caught with a trampoline in their yard than privacy. That can easily get their insurance policy canceled for one.
@forgottenpassword: But you HAVEN’T shown us damage yet. A mistake was made, and Google has provided a way for said mistakes to be fixed.