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A9 Search Engine Launches Yellow Pages
vmalik writes "The A9 search engine has launched a Yellow Pages service, and the listings in major cities include photographs of the storefronts. The site also contains information on how they did it. It seems to be pretty good with lots of store images and driving information from MapQuest."
They've photographed storefronts - things you'd see yourself walking up and down a street. Now unless the secret terrorist targets are listing themselves in the yellow pages (is there even a section for secret terrorist targets)? I fail to see, sorry I can't even argue again your point, so vague and vacuous it appears to be.
If you are on a public street, then there is no expectation of privacy. If you don't have a sign displaying your name, then it's a bit hard to map the image to you unless you're listed in the yellow pages, which in that case, defeats the idea of privacy.
So short answer, "no".
This service is horrible. Being from NYC I searched for a store, and it didn't even come close. The addresses seem to be off or something. And if you try to scroll through the map it is maddeningly buggy. You can't change the map by hitting "south" or "west". Just real crap. The web page is also filled with ads and other invasive stuff. I will never use it.
Don't forget you can use http://generic.a9.com/ so they don't keep track of you (or at least don't LOOK as if they're keeping track of you...)
The French yellow pages http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/ put online pictures of the streets of Paris France a few years ago. They did not use a van but good'ol pedestrians with Nikon digital cameras. It was perhaps in 2001 or 2002 if I remember correctly. Now you can visit Paris for free ;-)
A9 is a severe privacy threat. They tie your search information back with your shopping behavior on Amazon. Even worse, the A9 toolbar I tried tracks your entire URL history stream, and turns that tracking on every time you start your browser even if you turn it off!