Google Street View (2): Privacy-Much

So a colleague at work showed me this street view of a lady whose face is not blurred. This answers my question of how all faces and license plates are blurred. Based on this image, the blurring of faces and plates is done by a computer programme. I know this because facial recognition programmes cannot recognize faces without the eyes. Therefore, any one with sun glasses or otherwise covered eyes does not have a "face". This is further proven by the fact that the lady standing with her has a blurred face. If a geography student was systematically blurring faces, quite obviously, both faces would be recognized in this photo and would be subsequently blurred.

This raises a privacy concern, since this lady is recognizable to any one who knows her, or knows what she looks like. We also know from this that she goes to Star Bucks (the Ogilvy location) and that she did this in approximately June 2009. Since these images were taken on sunny days, I can only imagine that there are many other people whose faces are not blurred. Have you found any privacy blips?

Today's Lesson: Eyes are the window into our souls, and our privacy.

Google Street View

While searching for the approximate location for my Friday night outing, I accidentally, zoomed into Google Maps Street View. I have been hearing about this in the news, but assumed is was not much different than Google Earth satellite photos. However, seeing is believing [read: amazing]. Of course, license plates and faces are blurred, but the resolution is fine enough that I can look inside peoples cars.

This image of a man staring at the photographing machine, reminds me of the video screens in the distopian novel 1984. That may not be a surprising statement. Certainly, that is not an original statement. However, I do not say it lightly. Reading that book made me realize that Orwell was indeed writing about present times. We are already within the confines of culture where 'private information' is zilch.

These are the times, but should I get used to it, and roll with the punches. Not worrying as much about my privacy, or alternatively, worrying more about my privacy, but accepting I will always have to be diligent about maintaining or controlling my privacy.

My friend Ryan seems to have opted out of information prying technology for the most part. He owns no cell phone, no home phone, and no internet. The only way to contact him is by mail, if you new his address (which isn't listed in the PHONE book). When I asked him how I should get a hold of him, he said he checks his email on Sundays when he visits his parents, but that for the winter, he'll check less often. I know his approximate geographical location, but to maintain a certain point of mystery, I did not ask him his address. Perhaps, I'll see if he was walking the streets the day they took the Google Street View pics.

Looking at the pic above makes me wonder if they hired an army of geography student interns to blur ppls faces and license plates, or if some computer programme was created to detect face and plate structures and blur them automatically. Hmmm.

Today's Lesson: I should start closing the blinds when walking the house nude.

Down Town Ottawa

At some time in the past, I have written about famous bums in Ottawa.

This morning I heard the news about one of my most favorite bums. I'm sure you must have seen him before on Rideau Street. He was the man whose legs and fingers were amputated, and he was so friendly! It turns out he is an Inuit artist doing tapestries (a traditionally female Inuit art) and he also painted. Some of his works are also hanging in the NAC. This is not necessarily surprising as most great Canadian artists were/are bums and drug addicts.

See film:

Ryan

Any how I wanted to share this CBC News story about a similarily creative man who lived on the streets for 20 years.

Inuit Artist Normee Ekoomiak Dies