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Photo by dspain/Flickr
Some pig-- you heard us, pig! -- had the unmitigated gall to go against the express wishes of Google. The nerve! Driving a Prius (oh, of course it was a Prius), some poor Google Street View recording sap was busted by the fuzz for doing some illegal, doing something evil over in the Presidio. Wonder what it was?
Wait until the Google mafia hears about this. We're heading over to the Four Seasons to tell Marissa Mayer this very second.
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Well here's one thing I've wondered about when my thoughts are not consumed by Jesus: Presumably Google has done all this street view shooting without a permit (it's a commercial venture, so they technically should have one, as impossible as that sounds). What's the deal? Does anyone know? Anyhow, I'm sure they pulled over the Prius for not using a turn signal because I've yet to see a Prius driver who actually notices that there are other people on the road and said people would like some prior warning about the next erratic manouver that pops randomly into said Prius driver's brain. In short, wake the f**k up Prius drivers, we can't read your KQED-addled minds.
they probably don't have a permit to have something mounted to the car like that.
doh!
I don't think you need to get a permit to take pictures in public. Commercial or otherwise.
True. Everything that can be viewed from the street is fair game. The permit is required to close the street, etc.
Commercial photography requires a permit whether you close the street or not. No one will notice a dude with a camera, but try setting up a crew and lights without one, the cops will be round lickety split. The city loves fees.
It's nice to see that the police are busy solving crime - oh wait, I mean generating revenue instead of solving crime. I wonder how many people got stabbed, shot or robbed during the 15 minutes that it took to run a background check and write that ticket. Nice job Fong!
Anyway, since when is the "street view" for people that are 15 feet tall?
That is a Presidio cop, they don't have anything to do with solving city crimes, they do have a hit and run of a jogger a couple of years ago, but that, and making sure people go the speed limit, and come to a complete stop at all stop signs is all they have to do. Because of the fact that tickets given by Presidio police are federal, not state or local, they don't put points on your license, nor do they increase your insurance rates.
How do you know that isn't the Mapjack car?
I don't think Google Street View qualifies as "commercial photography" since they aren't using the imagery to sell stuff (unlike local shots for Northern California Honda Dealers). And yeah, the city permit requirement is for closing off the street (just like for parades and street fairs).
As for the camera itself, it appears to be about 9 feet high (not fifteen), just tall enough so most vehicles and people don't obscure the street view. Remember, it's called "Street View" not "People View." It's only nominally taller than, say, a minivan with a pair of bicycles strapped to the roof.
The side of the car has a Google sign, fyi.
Did you hear the one about the asinine Erik Estrada stand-in who writes speeding tickets on the information superhighway?
Yo fuzz, quit fucking with our street view. It works, it's free, and it makes our lives more efficient --three things you don't do.
Can't he exercise a little independent judgement here? Can't he look at the label and the camera and the locale and go, "Oh. Yeah. Carry on."
Betcha he types his police reports on IBM Selectric.
Too bad he didn't get tagged by a red light camera!
Har!
Har!
Har!
Hey, maybe the cop is lost. "Um, you're the Google Street View guy. You should know where this is, right?"
Um... the "do they have a permit" question isn't just about the legal and metaphysical issue of photography. You usually need some level of official approval to drive on public streets with strange apparatuses protruding from your vehicle. Divisions 12, Chapter 1 of the California Vehicle Code prohibits the operation of vehicles that have unapproved crap bolted onto it.
So the bull horns on Boss Hogg's 1970 Cadillac De Ville are out, then?
Er no, Boss Hogg IS THE LAW. Jesus, do we have to send Anus around to remind you of the fact?
Street View is a non commercial venture and has no advertising. I suggest you read the terms of use on the Google maps page if you're in doubt about that.
So, no, they do not need a permit. However, you can request to have your face or personal info blurred (such as plate numbers) if it presents a privacy issue.