I wasn't planning to do another of these so soon after my last one, but I got an email today that prompted me to put this together. The email came from the staff of the Safety Net Project at the National Network to End Domestic Violence.
Today Google released a new feature of Google Maps called "Street View." In five cities (San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Miami, Denver, and Las Vegas) you can now see street level photos of many neighborhoods in Google Maps.
Before Google released this new product, they reached out to the Safety Net Project at the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) to address concerns raised by this product, including checking for and removing business listings other than approved hotlines for shelters in these five cities, and planning a special process for quickly removing images of shelters if they appear in Street View. NNEDV worked with the state domestic violence coalitions for the five cities in the Google roll-out, and in turn the state DV coalitions contacted the local DV programs in each of the five cities.
Below is information about Google’s new Street View feature and also on the options for survivors and the organizations that support them.
WHAT IS STREET VIEW?
Street View is a new feature of Google Maps that enables users to view and navigate within 360 degree street level imagery of various cities in the US.
HOW DOES STREET VIEW WORK?
Users can access the Street View imagery by clicking on the "Street View" button in Google Maps (next to "Traffic"). Camera icons will appear on the maps of cities where Street View imagery is available – users can either click on a camera to zoom in or search for a specific address within the city. Users can point and click on the blue highlighted areas of the map to see the Street View at a specific location, or move the person icon to the location on the map they wish to view. Once the Street View bubble is open, users can click and drag the imagery to view 360 degree panoramas and click the navigation line to move along the street.
WHAT CITIES/METRO AREAS HAVE STREET VIEW NOW?
Street View imagery is available in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Miami, Denver, and Las Vegas.
WHAT CITIES WILL BE ADDED IN THE FUTURE?
Google plans to make this service available in as many cities as possible. At first they will focus on major metropolitan areas but plan on making Street View more comprehensive as time goes on. As Google adds more cities, the Safety Net Project at NNEDV will continue to work with Google and the state coalitions to increase safety and privacy for survivors and for the private shelter and advocacy locations that serve survivors.
HOW DO I ASK FOR AN IMAGE TO BE REMOVED?
Each Street View imagery bubble contains a link to "Street View Help" where users can report objectionable images. From the Street View Help bubble, click the "Report Inappropriate Image" link and fill out the web form that appears.
***For survivors, shelters and advocacy programs requesting takedown, please fill in the information provided and select "This image presents safety concerns," which will help prioritize your request.
HOW LONG DOES THE PROCESS TAKE?
If you submit a removal request through the Google online help process,
For up to two weeks after you request removal, the image will be blacked out in the Street View feature, and will contain a message that "This image is no longer available."
After that, the blacked out screen will disappear, and the Street View will just move seamlessly from one image to the next, completely omitting the image that was taken down.
***If you are concerned that this temporary blackened panorama will call more attention to your location, please do not report a takedown request through this method, but instead contact your state domestic violence coalition (listed at: www.nnedv.org/coalitions) or email SafetyNet@nnedv.org to discuss processing your takedown request in a different fashion.