No, they never are.

“Remember, we are talking about a country where it is considered less than polite to talk to a stranger about anything more personal than the weather.”

You mean England?

Now imagine you are someone who actually has reason to stay low, like you are famouse and don’t want people knowing where you live. Imagine if you have dealt with stalkers before.

Now, someone who wants to find you types your name in, gets your name, your address, and a view of the street you are on.

I’ll leave it at that, and see if you can figure out how it could be used to plan a crime.

There is also a big difference between staring at someone on the metro, and peeking in their window.

Some of the shots I have seen in various places talking about the issue should have been filtered out and re-shot before they made it to the site.

I am not Japanese, but I have been in Japan long enough to know that they can be very private people. Remember, we are talking about a country where it is considered less than polite to talk to a stranger about anything more personal than the weather.

Whether it is a big deal in our culture or not, it is a very big deal in theirs, and the media has taken the issue and run with it.

That said, you can’t stop people doing it. If people want privacy they have to keep themselves private. That’s why net curtains were invented.

Street View gives people the other side of the world the chance to be rude and nosey. Google’s cameras aren’t doing the staring. The same people who want to use Street View to look inside someone’s house probably enjoy celeb-pap magazines like OK and Heat.

Is Street View likely to cause real social problems such as increased rates of burglary?

but it is acceptable to rummage through garbage to find out if there is a piece of plastic in the 燃えるゴミ。

It’s honor to have someone like you on this blog and in Japan, and it’s pleasure to have someone like you to discuss with.
I really like someone who disagrees with me because I enjoy a discussion itself, but I regret to say that most of the times, I agree with you.

On topic, doesn’t Google use “the opposite of face-recognition software” in these pictures?

I’ve actually played around with the Japan Street View maps, but for some reason they seem to always show the blue road lines over to the side of the map road lines. Very annoying.
Did find one bit in Osaka where you take a ‘step’ forward and it’s like night and day – literally.

I wasn’t the one who said this:

“Perhaps if they grew up in a poorer country they wouldn’t be so quick to whinge about the slightest thing as if it’s an outrage.”

It makes no sense, is off-topic, and seems to stem from your own opinions or issues with Japanese.

Out of curiosity, I took a look at the vacant lot where my parents’ house was. It was sold ten months ago to a small real estate developer. They were going to build a “micro-mansion” like the one already up on the adjacentlot. Google Street View shows a grassy vacant lot exactly as it was before the sale. No chain-link fence to keep people out or signage to assert the ownership.

Satellite photos are old too. The view of our city got to be at least 2 or 3 years old. There is no sign of a subway construction project which has kept a major thoroughfare looking like a war zone for the last 2 years.

On the other hand, it might be fun to play a “virtual tourist” in a city far, far away….

I mean, you could just drive to the house you’re planning your crime on and take pictures yourself. It doesn’t make the house any less secure.

Not everything that gaijinheart writes is meant to be taken seriously, BTW.

“…another case caused by the cultural difference between Japanese tradition and foreign company’s officiousness. I mean, Leave us alone!!”

Who is “us”? Speak for yourself, self-righteous blogger dude. Smells xenophobic to me.

I was surprised that the cameras were even there in the first place, and wonder if the people living there even know about them.

A bit over the top – I think even in the West, this would raise a few eyebrows if it became well-known.

“Perhaps if they grew up in a poorer country they wouldn’t be so quick to whinge about the slightest thing as if it’s an outrage.”

This makes no sense. Everything is relative. Seems like you have issues.

He doesn’t want Google to remove Street View, but to take cultural differences into account. And it is only his opinion. On the original blog post, there were comments from people who shared his opinion, but there were also some comments that disagreed with it or the way he presented it.

Maybe the wording sounds weird to you, but it’s essentially saying, “it’s impolite to stare”.
The article contends that in crowded urban Japan, a household’s personal space extends right up to the fence so looking in is like someone walking up the front lawn of a typical American house and looking in the window. Being uncomfortable with that isn’t so “stupid”, is it?
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you are right these ppl aren’t being stupid or xenophobic they just aren’t confortable being watched by all the world