The Times is reporting that an “angry mob” has run the Google streetview car out of their village in Buckinghamshire (UK). Residents of Broughton formed a human chain, and eventually persuaded the car to leave.

The residents reasoning was that there had recently been a spate of burglaries in the area, and that this would serve to make things worse. I particularly like the classic NIMBY quotes from resident Paul Jacobs:

My immediate reaction was anger; how dare anyone take a photograph of my home without my consent? I ran outside to flag the car down and told the driver he was not only invading our privacy but also facilitating crime

Also:

This is an affluent area. We’ve already had three burglaries locally in the past six weeks. If our houses are plastered all over Google it’s an invitation for more criminals to strike.

If Google’s streetview imagery is an open invitation to burglars then Mr Jacobs has practically rolled out the red carpet by alerting The Times to this affluent, easy target for burglars.

Another point worth making is that the Google is only taking photos which anyone could legally take if they happened to go to a particular place – they are just making this public domain information more easily accessible.