If you happen to see the Google Street View cam car driving by and your kids are playing on the front lawn, stick your head out the front door and make sure they’re fully clothed… or else.
Claire Rowlands, a young mother from Britain, was shocked to see her naked three-year-old son on Google Street View, but there he was in his birthday suit, playing on his grandmother’s front yard. Unaware that the picture had even been taken, she felt it was an invasion of her son’s privacy.
“I just felt sick to my stomach when I saw the naked picture of Louis on the internet,” she said. “I’m angry, disgusted and upset about it – they should be checking every image before it goes up.”
Claire’s concern is “that pedophiles could see it and there’s no way I ever wanted my son to be seen naked all over the world,” adding that her son was playing on private property and that Google should “be extra careful on warm days because this is what children do – he was just playing in the garden and we didn’t expect in a million years he’d have his picture taken and put on the internet for anyone to see.”
Google apologized for the image and has since blurred the photograph.
I sympathize with Claire completely – I would be horrified if I saw a picture of my NAKED CHILD on the Internet, on freakin’ Google Street View, no less – but. I don’t think I’d be comfortable with my three-year-old son playing in the front yard naked. There, I said it. Naked in the back yard, sure…but the front yard? Probably not.
Then again, I’d like to think that my kids can play wherever the hell they please without a camera car zipping by to take pictures of them. Welcome to the 21st century, folks.
What’s your take on this story?
Google could have refrained from putting the picture up in the first place. But come on, how hard is it to throw a swimsuit or at least underwear on your kid?
The street is public domain and views from the street are public. Don’t put your naked kid in the front yard. Crazy lady. She can’t blame others. Kids don’t play naked outside on warm days. There are things called swim suits for that. Anyone can drive by and take pics. Remember that the next time your not-a-baby kid runs around naked.
It’s true that we shouldn’t have to worry about this stuff – but also true that now, we do. it’s not just Google that has cameras and internet access, after all. Any weirdo could walk by, snap a quick shot, and post it, even on a site intended for pedophiles, even more harmful than Google’s unintentional exposure and more easily found by the wrong people.
While I agree that we *should* be able to let kids run free outside if we want, I also think that it’s more important to be safe than to be in the right, and that on the street, my kids always wear at least a diaper or undies, but more typically, a swim outfit.
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