The tiny city of North Oaks, Minn., has two words for Google: Keep out. The town doesn’t want images of its streets and homes on Street View in Google Maps. Google has agreed to take down the images.

The town’s residents say it’s a matter of privacy. The roads in that lakeshore community north of Minneapolis are privately owned and the city enforces its trespassing ordinance. The North Oaks Golf Club represents a substantial amount of the town’s real estate. Residents say Google broke the law when it came onto private roads and took photos.

“It’s not the hoity-toity folks trying to figure out how to keep the world away,” Mayor Thomas Watson told the Star-Tribune. “They really didn’t have any authorization to go on private property.” The mayor added, “You had a guy with a dashboard camera going around taking pictures. They wouldn’t be able to film on your property and advertise it.”

Pentagon Ban

Of course it’s not the first moment Street View has caused controversy. Last month, the Pentagon banned Google from military installations after Google staffers photographed Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. And governments from Russia to Saudi Arabia have expressed concern about the images appearing on Google Earth, a satellite-mapping site.

The case of North Oaks may be different as a case of a town asking to be wiped off the Google map. The North Oaks City Council sent a letter to Google in January asking that its images be removed and threatening to quote the company for trespassing. Google has removed the images, Google spokesperson Elaine Filadelfo said. “This is very rare where an entire town would inquiry to be taken off,” she told the Star-Tribune.

Drivers with mounted cameras take photos for Google’s Street View feature and since the North Oaks streets are clearly marked…

Orginal post by Top Tech News