YOUR COMMENTS

It is not worthy argument to say we want safety for children but not at the cost of our Internet freedoms. Everyone who looks out for our freedoms should fully understand that it starts with individual freedoms first. Our children have the right to have fun in our front lawns without worrying about being plastered across the Internet for predators to misuse.

It is simply not acceptable that Google not use already existing technology that removes images from pictures --- respect the children and prohibit unsolicited images from being published online.

Everyone's argument against this is simply keeping the notion alive that children have consented --- they have not and cannot. Parents need to stand together to get this done.
- Tom, Manchester West Side

I don't think anyone's talking about banning google maps - this is just a move to protect the privacy of families who don't want to be photographed. If this was an individual taking pictures of every yard, you would be super creeped out, no?

It's not crazy to make protecting privacy the standard, rather than an exception that needs to be requested from a company taking pictures of your house.
- John S., Manchester, NH

Admirable goal - blurring kids might be quickest, but how do you know which are kids and which are adults? The images are already blurry so you really can't distinguish between a 17 year old and an 18 year old. Or is the focus only on young kids? In which case, how do you tell the difference between kids and little people? I've never actually seen a kid on Street View, but have seen adults (wearing scrubs and sitting on a curb in front of a hospital emergency room, the entrance of which I was trying to locate before I had to go there). Certainly, Windows Live Search Maps Bird's Eye also has great images, but still aerial, not lateral like Street View.
- Jay, Nashua

So funny that this is an issue. My mom's house is on the street view. The picture they have shows a neighbor in the frame. His features are unrecognizable and I knew him only because we'd met before. The picture is old (at least a year) because this neighbor hasn't lived in the house next door to my mom in at least that long! As a mother of two small children I don't worry about street view maps as a gateway for predators to get to my kids.
- Kim, Manchester

If the preditors didn't use this "method" already, the UL and this group have just given all the preditors out there this idea! Nice going.
- mld, NH

This issue goes beyond rediculous...Now Street view has been attacked? I have used street view myself. When I took a trip to Boston, where, for some stupid reason, they tend to take down street signs during construction. Using street view allows a driver to get a leg up in familiarity with the area...dumb issue.
- Rick Olson, Manchester

I'm a french graphic artist and i realize paintings of Manchester using internet (manchesterbybed.canalblog.com).
I mainly use street view...It's only pictures take n at a given moment...Except the 360°,it's only like pictures in a newspaper or in a magazine...
The fact that you can travel into thousands of pictures and choose your way gives illusion of reality,but it is not a webcam!
I think Ms Rumenap makes a confusion !
- Erwan, Brest,France

If this group is looking to stop internet predators, why not just cut them off at the source and try to get the entire internet turned off? I mean such an obvious solution.
- Jim Wilson, Manchester

Seems like a waste of the Chief's time. This "meeting" should be over rather quickly.....

Chief Mara: Are there any instances where "street veiw" was used as a tool to attack a child?

Ms Rumenap: No

Chief Mara: Have a nice day!
- Sydney, Londonderry

wow, ive never seen anything more rediculous in my life. Why dont we worry about the important things that need to be fixed not something as petty as this. Just goes to show how many people in this world have no lives.
- dave, derry,nh

this reminds me of when the media says, "water treatment plants are subjected to terror threats." I'm pretty positive that since the terrorists on 9/11 couldn't figure out the time zone that our water treatment plants are quite safe, CONSIDERING that THEY have no idea what a water treatment plant is.

but, now... quite a few kiddie snappers KNOW that they can use google street to terrorize/stalk children. kudos for posting this! brilliant, JUST brilliant!

isn't this the same newspaper who wrote about the manchester PD being flooded, losing power, then restoring power with a generator? when will you put up an article about cracking passwords and pins to bank accounts?
- scott, chichester

I think we're getting absolutely nuts about this as a society.

Want to see how bad it's gotten? Watch the next time a lost kid is wandering in a store by themselves. Any single males can't help. They literally have to flee, lest they be accused of being a child molster (and they will be) if the dare ask the kid if they're lost and try to help!
- Jason Entres, Hollis

This is crazy! Those picks are from at least a year ago! It's not like it's real time and they can spy on kids and where they live.... They can easily drive around town and see this stuff!
- Michelle, Manchester

Seems all these folks want to do is to stop Google for showing kids on thier street view. What is wrong with that? Seems reasonable to me.
- Bill B, Manchester

OK, so google street view lets you view playgrounds. Oh, so predeators are not smart enough to pick up a paper map and look at it to see where there are parks/schools, then drive to them to see which one has playgrounds?
This organization's passion to protect children is admirable, their sense, embarrasing to me as an American that graduated highschool.
- Dan M, Manchester

Serioulsy, are these people for real? Lets try putting energy and effort where it will do some good......protecting our children will always be number ONE priority but this idea is whacked!
- Sam A, Manchester NH

Is this really an issue? While I do believe protecting children is a priority, this is going too far. If you've ever used street view, you'll see the pictures are taken from the roadside and are months old. Also, they aren't live pictures so it's not like a predator can watch and wait until a child is outside then go out and attach them. Google has security measures in place if people don't want images of their property on the internet, so what is the problem? Instead of wasting the time and money to try to ban this useful tool, how about you inform those with concerns to contact google and have their property blacked out.
- Shawna, Manchester

Using this logic we should not build roads because we've all seen the NBC special where the predator drives 100 miles to get their next victim.

Going after street view is a lot like the desire to make our schools safer by putting up "Drug Free Zone" signs. It does not actually do anything to make anyone safer but allows parents to go on ignoring their kids and thinking they are safe because they have a cell phone.
- Jeff, Nashua

I can imagine some hysterical moron in the legislature picking up this ball and running with it.
- Chris, Merrimack

This is ridiculous.

1. I believe the next step is to close all Chucky Cheeses, McDonalds, Toys r Us, Amusement Parks, Disney Land and any other place that a "Predator" may come in contact or see a child.

2. Tint the windows on all School buses and make children wear burkahs when outside of the house to protect them from the unpure thoughts of "Predators".

3. Lets remove all pictures of children on the Internet from sites like Baby Gap and Gerber. Stop televising childrens shows and any programs with children so they are not "Visually Assaulted" by a "Predator".

4. Pass some ground breaking legislation and a Constitutional Amendmant that allows the Government to Monitor all GPS, Cell Phone and Internet usage so we can identify these "Predators" and then put them in Jail forever.

Then we will all be safe.
- JD, Salem

While this group's overall goal is important, their approach must be questioned. Instead of lobbying to take a valuable service from the community to address a very small risk, they should focus on educating parents about how to work with Google to blur or remove their location on StreetView. This is a more efficient use of their resources and promotes the community to work with them rather than against them. If its overall privacy that is the concern, StreetView is nothing compared to the Bird's Eye view from Microsoft's Virtual Earth. What's that in your back yard?!
- Bill Gassman, Moultonborough, NH

And they can do the same by driving down the street. At least with it on the net you know they are at home and not out driving around...right??

Can we stop posting photos of sports teams in the paper...I don't want the pedos to know what school my kids go to... *sigh*

"She said she knows of no instances where predators used Street View to attack a child. " So might as well bring large attention to it so we can drive them to use it for that so we can say "told you so..."
- Ian, Wakefield

This reader has been using Street View since it's creation to view places in Manchester that I've never seen before. For example the farmland near Lake Masabesic or the old railroad lines that run into Auburn and Candia. Since using Street View I've never seen a child in one of the photographs. It might be that I wasn't looking at playgrounds or people's yards. Street View, in my opinion, allows students the ability to learn geographical locations and other interesting subject matter for reports and such. I hope Google will continue to keep Street View online with regard to one's privacy.
- Robert M Tarr, Manchester

I am all for protecting kids, but how does banning Google Maps do that? So you can see a picture of a kid on a map. Big deal. It's not like it is a real-time camera of the street so a predator can see if any kids are there, its a still photo taken months ago that shows kids walking down the street. Big deal, if a predator really wants to he can find kids by just driving down any street in America once school lets out. Some people are really hyper-sensitive.
- Greg, Manchester

It's hard to believe that these people could possibly be serious about this.
- Adam, Manchester