Google’s Street View Used To Catch Illegal Tree Choppers?

There’s been lots of talk about whether or not Google’s Street View effort violates anyone’s privacy — and also whether or not it’s proper for police to use photos that were uploaded online in charging people with crimes. How about a combination of the two? A property owner in Canada was caught illegally chopping down some trees on a lot, and Google’s Street View images appear to catch the tree choppers red handed. It’s not yet clear if the Street View images will be used in the prosecution, but it does seem like valid evidence, though again it will raise privacy questions. However, I’m not sure what the argument really would be there, since it would really be no different than a neighbor taking a photograph (it was the neighbors who complained about the tree chopping in the first place).

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