Google Maps Now Eliminates The Need For The Quintessential College Road Trip, But Is It Safe?
Google Maps has been allowing people to virtually visit multiple locations, some of which might too far-off or even buried in history. But the search giant has now added much needed sights that any aspiring college student and more importantly, his or her parents would like to visit.
Google just reported that it has added Street View imagery for a long list of new university campuses in Google Maps. The new schools, which include campuses across the U.S. and Canada, are available to explore starting today, reported 9to5Google.
Google Maps has a very interesting feature called Street View, which offers highly detailed eye-level imagery of locations. People can easily ‘visit’ these places from the comfort of their homes using just a high-speed internet enabled device. Now parents and their wards can easily have a close-up view of 36 new college campuses, explained Deanna Yick, Street View Program Manager,
“Whether you’re a college applicant or a curious parent getting to know your kid’s new home away from home, Street View can take you on a walking tour of schools around the world. Starting today, you’ll be able to explore 36 new university campuses across the US and Canada with Street View in Google Maps. These universities are the latest additions to the hundreds of college campuses all over the world that are already available for you to explore in Google Maps. To see if a Street View tour of your dream school is available, search for a particular university on Google Maps and click on Pegman to enter the Street View imagery”
A few of the prominent campuses now covered by Street View include Georgetown University, University of Miami, and the University of Regina in Canada. Though these features sound great and indeed work as promised, security and safety advocates are concerned about the detail that the imagery offers about campuses, where gullible and vulnerable minds go on a daily basis, reported Beta News.
Does the Street View of college campuses pose a threat to students? While parents and students can familiarize with the campus layout, so can anti-social elements, creeps and perverts. People with a mind for mischief or trouble could easily study the campus from a remote location or most likely a garage. Burglars, predators and stalkers on the other hand, can now find highly convenient places to hide or multiple alternative routes to escape. A pervert could locate perfect bushes to lurk in.
The safety of students should be of paramount importance since many of these kids will be discovering independence for the first time, their experience shouldn’t be marred by someone who made evil use of Google Maps.
[Image Credit | Google Maps]
