Googles Newest Update Pisses Cops Off
Google Maps – New and Improved
Cristal M Clark
Good news for all those blatant speeders, Google is finally rolling out the ability to report speed traps, crashes and slowdowns in real time to its Maps iOS app, making the new feature available to roughly 1 billion existing users worldwide.
For those that didn’t know this, that feature was already available on Android phones, as well as on Waze, which by the way is another Google Map app.
Some media outlets are reporting this could potentially upset law enforcement but I am unclear as to why exactly, they accomplish virtually what we assume they wanted in the first place, to slow drivers down in certain areas?
The New York Police Department wrote in a letter a while back that “Revealing the location of checkpoints puts those drivers, their passengers, and the general public at risk,” which was in response to users reporting DUI checkpoints.
Pretty much all of the tech giants tend to align themselves with what users want not what law enforcement wants, they offer things to users that hamper the efforts of law enforcement in some cases and that sometimes do in fact put the lives of others in danger.
Google argues that that safety is “a top priority” and that reporting features can be beneficial to public safety. “We believe that informing drivers about upcoming speed traps allows them to be more careful and make safer decisions when they’re on the road.”
People do tend to slow down if they know about an upcoming speed trap, no one wants a speeding ticket, but then again people also tend to avoid DUI checkpoints when they are gleefully drinking and driving and if Google Maps shows them where the checkpoints are, that is not really a good thing. That does put the lives of others in danger not to mention the life of the driver who chooses to drink and drive.
The question with technology is when does it cross the line from helping society by making life easier, if the tech giants truly care about safety, to blatant aiding and abetting in a crime?
Cristal M Clark
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