Streetview in Japan
MR reports that Google’s StreetView is causing some controversy in Japan. The basic problem is, due to lack of space in Japan, there is not the clear distinction between public and private space that you get elsewhere.
For example, here’s the apartment where we lived in Tokyo until recently:
Cruise up and down the street and you can virtually see into people’s living rooms. Pan to the right and down a bit, and you can see my bicycle. There’s a bit of snow on the ground, so this was taken sometime last winter. When I was in that room, a Google car cruised past and digitised our neighbourhood. It’s somehow a little creepy.
On the other hand, I can’t help being impressed by the phenominal effort of driving all the streets of Tokyo.
