Virtual eye in the sky sparks stalker fears

[nosferatu_dj]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/29/2699274.htm?section=justin

Virtual eye in the sky sparks stalker fears

By News Online's Sarah Collerton
Posted 29/09/2009


Related Story: Google removes UK street view images (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/21/2522537.htm)
Related Link: Watch the video showing the technology (http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/youtube.htm?v=TPk88soc2qw&feature=player_embedded#t=75)
Related Link: Read the draft paper on the technology (http://www.cc.gatech.edu/cpl/projects/augearth/augearth_ismar_reduce.pdf)



Privacy groups are aghast at early plans to make virtual maps so realistic that individual humans could be spotted and tracked.
United States researchers are working on ways to layer more real-time, real-world information into Google Earth or Microsoft Virtual Earth.
The Georgia Tech trial video of an augmented virtual Earth shows people just walking around, a soccer game being played in a park, how fast clouds move across the sky and the speed traffic is moving along the highway.
But the things you are seeing are not actually real, rather animations based on recordings of real people and events.
The researchers have produced the realistic animations of humans and various objects using live video feeds that detect the position and motion of things.
They also use behaviour simulation and motion capture data so the animated humans look and move realistically.
The Australian Privacy Foundation (APF) says real-time capture of large-scale natural and man-made phenomena could be highly valuable, both socially and economically.
But they have grave concerns over the real-time capture of human activity, which they say is "grossly privacy-intrusive".
The group is worried about who will be collecting the real-time data, how it will be used and how long it will be stored.
APF chair Roger Clarke says there are far too many risks involved to even consider the technology.
"The risk of voyeurism in many different forms is enormous here," he told ABC News Online.
"Stalkers, particularly relating to celebrities and notorieties, but there's an awful lot of people who aren't celebrities who are at potential risk from people who have funny ideas."
Mr Clarke says Australia's privacy legislation is far too lax, and even the prospect of this technology shows Australia needs clearer privacy protection.
"We have an awful lot of holes in our privacy legislation in all countries, but Australia is atrocious, particularly in relation to the private sector," he said.
"We don't have appropriate protections in place."
Privacy concerns in the wake of the launch of Google Street View prompted the technology giant to blur faces of people caught in photographs and taking down images at the request of property owners.
Street View allows people to see 360-degree ground-level images of cities captured from a car equipped with a camera.
Earlier this year, Google argued in a US court that an expectation of privacy concerning pictures of houses or yards is unrealistic in this age of aerial and satellite imagery.
The Georgia Tech researchers will present their findings at the IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality in Florida next month.

[metacomet]

Hmm, but it sounds like they're going to observe people and the pattern of how they move (for instance city crowds walking the streets)...

and then they're going to create animations to fit those observations. So it's not real-time observation, it's an illusion.

I imagine if they come across a woman riding some guy on a hilltop they aren't going to animate that :p

[notthisshitagain]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anLfoy2XsFw

Fitting lyrics, I'd say.

[rynath]

I worked for a local company trying to bust into the mapping game. I did data analysis on the photos. The photos were taken by 8 cameras mounted on top of SUVs and Vans and I can tell you this: These cameras, even at a basic level, are a horrid invasion of privacy. If the lighting was right I could see into people's homes through their windows. I could read license plate numbers, street signs, addresses or any other information in view. This includes seeing into other cars. I no longer work for this company due to layoffs and for once I was fine with losing a job.

These vehicles follow no privacy laws. They take thousands of pictures daily. These pictures are filtered through employees with no security measures. If I wanted to I could have taken home gigs upon gigs of data. The worst part...our drivers were scorned if they couldn't access private, fenced in property. They actually wanted the drivers to use every trick up their sleeve to get access to these areas.

If you live in California, Florida, Texas, Washington, Minnesota or a smattering of other states, there is a good chance my eyes have viewed your home, car and maybe even you. All this from a failing mapping company. Imagine what the successful ones are doing.

[dude111]

I no longer work for this company due to layoffs and for once I was fine with losing a job.Ya should try to expose them and what they are doing!

[yozhik]

If WE have access to high quality data like Google Maps, etc ... you can bet the farm on them having something WAY more sophisticated and intrusive.

I'm sure that which is being described, already exists.

[rynath]

Ya should try to expose them and what they are doing!

That thought has crossed my mind on many occasions. However, this company is self destructing. It cannot compete with the big players, Google and Microsoft. Instead they tried to get into bed with them in hopes of getting bought out. This failure of a business model became apparent to anyone who worked there. They will fall off the cliff soon enough, leaving many more people without jobs. It's a vicious cycle right now in the US. Eat or be eaten. My former employer is lunch.