There was a time, not all that long ago, when a person would be well within their right to shoot anyone trespassing on their land. But the time-honored rights of the American home owner may be in jeopardy thanks to Google who says that privacy is so 20th century! Seems a couple in the Pittsburgh area has filed an invasion of privacy lawsuit against Google in reaction to the image of their house that appears on Google's Street View mapping feature, which literally provides a street view of any address. Ha! says Google, and their six man lawyer team, you and your silly notions of privacy.

[The couple] live in a residential community in the twenty-first-century United States, where every step upon private property is not deemed by law to be an actionable trespass...Today's satellite-image technology means that even in today's desert, complete privacy does not exist. In any event, Plaintiffs live far from the desert and are far from hermits.

Apparently you must prove your hermit bona fides to qualify for Google's privacy plan. Anyway the interesting part is that it appears that the "unremarkable photos of the exterior of their home," were taken during a "brief entry upon their driveway" using, the couple contends, a "Google vehicle — outfitted with a panoramic camera on its roof." So yeah, a little creepy. And, why is Google driving down someone's driveway with a panoramic camera? Furthermore, why doesn't Google put all this Street View equipment to actual use and locate Osama, we bet no one would have "privacy" issues then.