You can look at almost anything on Google. Just don’t try to sneak a peek of the homes in the private community of North Oaks.
The city of 4,500 residents has demanded that Google Maps remove images of North Oaks homes from the website’s Street View feature, where any Internet user can glimpse a home from the nearest road.
North Oaks’ unique situation, in which the roads are privately owned by the residents and the city enforces a trespassing ordinance, may have made it the first city in the country to request that the online search engine remove images from Google Maps.
Google spokeswoman Elaine Filadelfo said the images of North Oaks were removed shortly afterward. She didn’t know of any other city in the country that has made a similar request.
“This is very rare where an entire town would request to be taken off,” Filadelfo said.
Google should just call in an air strike.
I can understand privacy concerns, but it’s not like Google has a photographer stationed there 24/7 taking pictures.
…
Or do they?
I used to live in Minneapolis (North Oaks is a few miles north), and people from that town were the biggest douche bags in the Land of Lakes. I’m not surprised by this demand at all.
I knew it. don’t trust google!!! Ahh terrorism!! muslims!! Tom Cruise!! such a scary world….
Witness Protection program.
# 5 John C Dvorak said, on June 1st, 2008 at 7:33 am
Witness Projection program.
-Fixed that for ya 😉
North Oaks turns up for all for all terrorism related searches.
Goggle should respond by locking out North Oaks from using Google. They could block all incoming search requests from the IP addresses used in North Oaks.
Can still find it on Google Earth.
I’m guessing a bunch of rich, snooty folks got together with too much time on their hands and came up with this crap?
Get over yourselves, people, and find a new hobby.
I live right next to north oaks. Considering they’ll send their own private police force after you if you take a step in there. It fits their character perfectly.
>>I’m guessing a bunch of rich, snooty folks got
>>together with too much time on their hands
BINGO!!!!
It just seems funny that unless the streets are gated, or there are prominent No Tresspassing signs posted, they can be ASSUMED to be public streets, and afforded the same protection from harrassment as any other public street.
I would bet that they removed the images only until their lawyers get a chance to review things.
Google got a picture of me wattering my flowers in front of my house last summer. I can’t even recognise myself the resolution is so crappy. The curtains are open on my house, and you can see nothing in my frontroom. You can see inside my messy garage though. I sure don’t get what all the fuss is about.
Don
Just gated-community types expressing their inner asshole.
@Don
Actually, up until a few years ago it was gated, and there are at least 3 no trespassing signs that I can think of off the top of my head, at one of the 2.5 entrances.
>>there are at least 3 no trespassing signs that
>>I can think of off the top of my head.
Again, “Just gated-community types expressing their inner asshole”.
It’s one thing for Madonna or somebody to live in a glorified condo complex with gates on the driveway, but wtf kind of a CITY (with a mayor, city council, etc.) gates itself in? And then demands that they be erased from Google Streetview? (Although Streetview seems to be restricted to the downtown areas of major cities, so I’m somewhat surprised that an East Bumfuck place like North Oaks would be on there in the first place).
What are they doing in there?
Do these people know that copious amounts of information about their homes is available from their local county assessor’s site???
http://rrinfo.co.ramsey.mn.us/public/characteristic/index.pasp
Whoo hoo! Look up any house in Ramsey County, MN. Find out just how much money those snobs in North Oaks paid for their houses, look up their taxes, their names, addresses, square footage, yard layouts, floor plans.
Suck it!