Google street crew is mapping in WNY

Would you want a picture of your house on the internet for all the world to see? The street crew from Google is in town and the camera is rolling.

You may have seen it driving down the the road in your neighborhood. The Google street view car is making a tour of buffalo updating its Google maps images.

Viewers have been e-mailing, telling us where they have been spotting the unusual vehicle. Patrick Argy snapped a photo of it while the driver was on break in Niagara County. Many find the tool useful, but others think it is a little too close and personal.

Joe Faso said, "It's really what is the motivation behind it. If it's good will, it's an excellent tool. If it's used wrongly than that's never good."

Emily Mazur said, "You can easily on the internet find out people's addresses and go there. Only this way it gives them a visual picture of what the house looks like. I don't think it is much different than looking someone up in the phone book."

Google says that all images are taken from public view. All people and license plates are automatically blurred out. But if you still feel your privacy is being violated, you can have your house blurred out as well. Go to the shot that you don't like, click "report a problem," write to Google and they will take that image and blur it from their street view.

Nicole Peiorkowski says she is part of the Facebook generation so she is not bothered by the public images. She was able to use Google maps for a personal purpose.

"My father was born on a small island in Greece and I've been able to see his house where he grew up through the Google maps," said Peiorkowski.

Google said car has 15 camera lenses, motion sensors, and a computer to take in all the data. Patrick Argy also told News 4 that he wasn't allowed to take any pictures inside the car because Google did not want anyone to know about the technology being used.