The “Eye in the Sky” is back in the news. This week Fairfax reported that Sydney City Council is buying a 3D aerial mapping program so they can look down on buildings and other objects, in greater detail.  This came hot on the heels of a story about a Sydney council officer who made one resident very nervous, after gaining detailed information about his property using computer mapping.

How do you feel about council workers being able to look into your backyard via their computers? An invasion of privacy? Or, a necessary tool for them to do their job?

It turns out the councils DON’T have video cameras rolling on us 24/7. An industry expert has told us that this kind of technology only uses aerial photos taken once every few years, which aren’t detailed enough to identify cars or people.

The satellite pictures used by Google Earth, on the other hand, are more detailed… In fact our producer Clare has a friend who looked up her own house using Google Earth and could see the tomato vines growing on her verandah…

Then there’s Google Street View, launched here last month, which lets you look up quite detailed photographs of any street, in any major city…  

Google Earth, Street View—they can be a lot of fun, but are there too many eyes watching us now?

Whether the city council or the Google kind, how do you feel about these new aerial viewing technologies? Are they an invasion of privacy or is all the talk of Big Brother just hype?

·        When CCTV first came out in shopping malls, people were worried about privacy. Now most people would feel safer because it’s in use.

·        Then again, there have been reports of people caught in less than flattering situations on Google Street View.

What are your thoughts?