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Windows Live and Privacy

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the filming-now-in-a-city-near-you dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Today as we were biking around our neighborhood in a small city we saw a strange vehicle slowly driving around. It appeared to be an SUV, bristling with cameras mounted on the roof, and pointing just about every possible direction. The first time we saw it, all we could see was that it had a sign on the side, something about Windows. The second time we saw it, we stared at it so hard that the driver stopped and we had a chance to ask him what it was all about. He said he was driving around, filming streets, and that there were people doing this all over the world, and getting data from the air too. It was going to be available on the Web. I asked him if this was Microsoft's answer to Google Earth, and he indicated that it was. There seems to be very little about this on the Web, and I found no mention of Microsoft's collection of this sort of detailed street level data. The Windows site appears to be http://preview.local.live.com/, although since I use a Mac it didn't work properly. I'm not sure I want my neighborhood viewable on the Web from ground level. And are they going to edit all the people out? I don't see how they could."

14 of 372 comments (clear)

  1. OH SNAP!!! It's the Vista Police.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    quick....uninstall...UNINSTALL!!!

    1. Re:OH SNAP!!! It's the Vista Police.... by Reaperducer · · Score: 4, Funny

      If I go to Home Depot and get a blue screen door, will the Windows police think my house has crashed and go home?

      --
      -- I'm old enough to have lived through six different meanings of the word "hacker."
    2. Re:OH SNAP!!! It's the Vista Police.... by Patrik_AKA_RedX · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yes, but they will format and reinstall. Your house will look exactly the same as it did the day you moved in. And that included that ugly wallpaper the previous owners had in the living room and the pile of garbage that took all week to clean up in the basement. The stuff you brought in however will all be lost.

  2. Why not? by xyankee · · Score: 3, Funny

    "And are they going to edit all the people out? I don't see how they could." Why couldn't they? It's amazing the things they can do with computers these days, you know...

    1. Re:Why not? by geobeck · · Score: 4, Funny

      "And are they going to edit all the people out? I don't see how they could." Why couldn't they? It's amazing the things they can do with computers these days, you know...

      They won't edit them out completely; they'll just replace them with better-looking people. How else are they going to compete with GE?

      --
      Find environmentally and socially responsible products on http://buy-right.net
  3. Agreement? by Realistic_Dragon · · Score: 5, Funny

    They don't need to edit anyone out. Just check your Windows EULA - it's in there right after the section concerning rights to your immortal soul.

    --
    Beep beep.
  4. Shh! Don't spoil the secret! by jfengel · · Score: 5, Funny

    The government doesn't want you to know this, but here's the secret:

    When you're outside... people can see you.

  5. Re:This is old news... kind of by Cycloid+Torus · · Score: 3, Funny

    Stupid me...(sound of hand slapping forehead)... when I saw them, I thought it was maybe the FBI in disguise, you know, tracking terrorists or something... stupid me.

    --
    Lost in space at an early age. Survived the vacuum. Now rebuilding castle in air.
  6. Take my advice... by gooman · · Score: 4, Funny

    Stay inside.

    --
    "Kittens give Morbo gas!"
    1. Re:Take my advice... by monoqlith · · Score: 5, Funny

      You're preaching to the choir, my friend. Preaching to the choir.

  7. Windows live sightseeing and pr0n by thc69 · · Score: 3, Funny

    So, when do sightseeing blogs start to pop up, pointing out the rare frame where somebody is caught sunbathing nude?

    --
    Procrastination -- because good things come to those who wait.
  8. There could be a problem here... by thewils · · Score: 5, Funny

    Say honey, how come Dave's truck is parked in our driveway?

    --
    Once I was a four stone apology. Now I am two separate gorillas.
  9. Re:Shh! Don't spoil the secret! by QuantumG · · Score: 4, Funny

    Heh. Actually did visit the WTC. I most remember the rude bitch who served me at the cafeteria. We flew out a day later, arrived in London and the next morning the WTC fell down. I remember thinking "man, I hope the cafeteria was open."

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
  10. Ok. by Perseid · · Score: 3, Funny

    So if I see a truck driving around taking pictures I will try to look as sexy as I can. So if you see the fat computer nerd trying to look sexy in the next beta of this thing - that was me.