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The Town that Google Maps Forgot
Posted: June 17, 2008 (13:43) under Security

The Town that Google Maps Forgot

Not content with merely snapping some shots from space, the camera crews of the Google Empire are spreading their tendrils unto your very driveway in their quest to document every single physical feature on the face of the planet.

One town stands against them or if you could get a Google Earth shot of the place, that would be awesome. Google Earth won’t run on my damn computer!]

North Oaks, Minnesota, a suburb of St. Paul, is an upscale, private community with an interesting set of laws; the entire town is ringed with No Trespassing signs, and entry is by invitation only. Think of it as a gated community, but with “air gates.” With household incomes nearly twice the American average, North Oaks may be the best example yet of the fact that privacy is the greatest luxury of all.

The streets, you see, actually belong to the homeowners on either side; each lot goes right up to the yellow line. Thus, all streets in North Oaks are private property and without an invitation from a bona fide resident, anyone using the streets is by definition trespassing.

North Oaks has contacted Google Maps and demanded that all photos of North Oaks be removed from the site, and they have been. Google also confirms that they have cooperated when individual homeowners have contacted the site and requested their houses be removed from the photo archive.

Now, there’s no word on the situation for renters, nor for those in collective buildings such as apartments. But it’s not hard to imagine that somewhere in North Oaks sits a bored teenager with nothing better to do than thwart the wishes of the town council. One legitimate invitation to town is all it would take.

I’m just sayin…