Dear LPG,

I recently read on your pages about one of the effects that the new video front door bells are having on our already over-watched country (►►►).  HW wrote about receiving a call from the police, because he has such a bell, and being asked if they could see the video footage stored within a couple of hours, on a recent day in order to trace the steps of someone they were looking for.  

I found that a little troublesome but had yet another realisation moment the other day.

My grandson visited me one afternoon recently now that we can do that sort of thing again.  It is so good to be able to get an unexpected visit and be able to say come in without having to worry about if it is a covid-19 safe thing to do quite as much as we all had to so recently.  While we were chatting he mentioned that he had visited because he had had to do something at a building quite local to where I lived and it felt good to be able to just drop in again.

He tried to explain where it was but we were making no headway so we turned the computer on and started to do a bit of surfing.  We found our way to Google maps.  I know of the site and I have been there to check out the best way to go on a journey where I was not sure of which bus or train to use to get there. 

He found the place he had visited quite quickly and wanted to prove it was not far from where I live, so we decided to take a virtual walk from there to here.  It was fun and it took a lot less than the eight or so minutes that it would have taken me to do the actual walking… but then came the shock!

As I said I have used Google maps many times and often see that all the car registration numbers and any faces of pedestrians that happen to be on the street when they film are carefully pixelated (or smudged) so that you cannot make them out.   But there, in front of my house was a smudged out me on my way to the bus stop opposite.  My face was unrecognisable but anyone who knows me would definitely be able to recognise my house, and the coat and dress I was wearing were definitely mine.  The date that the picture was taken is also there for all to see.  After the initial shock we had a good laugh because even though you could not see my face, it was definitely me and not my best pose.  I wondered how long I would be a feature of anyone trying to check out where I live so we googled and worked out that Google update their ‘street view’ images about once every two years, so I am going to be featured leaving my house for what in this case will seem like ages to come.

I know it was just coincidence, but it was a bit of a shock.  

SA, Catford.