There’s no denying it. We’ve all done it. 

We’ve Googled a certain address, checked a postcode – and most definitely looked at our own house on Street View. We’re a species which enjoys a good snoop, and technology is permitting us to do this more and more. Even Rightmove now lets us check Street View when searching for new accommodation, so that we may check the state of the area, pinpoint the house in relation to the neighbours and even decide where we might park our car.

It’s simultaneously extraordinary and worrying in terms of technology. Sure, Street View and Satellite Navigation have their advantages and disadvantages like everything else, but which should we focus on when our privacy is taken into account?

We live in a world where we are used to our personal information being easily accessible, whether voluntarily via social media, or perhaps inadvertently via online information. And Street Maps is no exception. Any person armed with your postcode could find your house, view your street, even view the ornaments on your windowsill. 

Naturally, Google fights to keep Street View as appropriate as possible. Faces are blurred to protect identity, for example. But sometimes, something strange might just slip through, and it’s not exactly encouraging. See this article. 

But are we too reliant on technology in terms of travel and location? 

Most people might not even know how to read a map thanks to the ease of Satellite Navigation, which has been introduced. 

You could learn, naturally. But some might argue that learning map-reading is old-fashioned or obsolete. Yet ignoring the basics might cost us in the long run: if our Satellite Navigation breaks, for example, or if our phones run out of battery during a journey. It’s always safer to have a back-up option. 

Nevertheless, it’s hard to argue with technology where you are able to configure the voice to sound like Arnold Schwarzenegger discussing the urgency of reaching a certain rotorcraft.