Huge database aims to include photo of every Tucson house (and coming to a neighborhood near you...)

Arizona Daily Star ^ | 02.06.2007 | Erica Meltzer

[Brian Mosely]

Photographers from a Canadian company are going house to house, shooting pictures of the roughly 300,000 houses in metropolitan Tucson.

It's part of an effort to photograph and appraise every house in the country, creating a database that can be sold to banks and insurance companies.

While the city attorney says the activity is perfectly legal, it has officials and some residents concerned about privacy rights.

And real estate agents, to whom the company hopes to market the information and pictures, question the value of the database.

[PeterPrinciple]

Already been done by the tax dept in my county

[cripplecreek]

They aren't photographing your house. They're photographing the sunlight reflected off your house. ;~)

[M. Dodge Thomas]

Many urban areas already do this. Ehen someone calls to schedule an inspection, the fist thing I do while talking to them is look up the property in the (Cook County, IL) assessors data base (the information includes a picture)then I pull it up in Google Earth to get and idea how it's situated in the neighborhood.

[sergeantdave]

This explains step #2 in the process-

Merry old England has purchased “Big Brother” computers that will calculate massive tax increases for subjects who live in “desirable neighborhoods,” reports the Daily Mail newspaper.

Homeowners in affluent areas with good schools, low crime and clean streets will be taxed thousands of pounds more on their council tax bills than those who live in poorer neighborhoods.

The Big Brother computer system contains massive amounts of information on each homeowner, including number of pets, whether or not you wear eyeglasses and what food you buy. Scenic views will also be taxed.

The computer will look at 287 “lifestyle variables” to determine how “rich” you live.

Those who are tagged as “rich” and living in “desirable” neighborhoods could see their annual tax bill rise from £1,000 to £4,000.

Further, homeowners can be fined £1,000 for refusing to allow inspectors inside to photograph their homes.

“This is the hallmark of an oppressive and greedy government finding every more stealthy ways to tax working families and pensioners and trampling over privacy when it suits them.” said Shadow communities secretary Caroline Spelman.

[Always Right]

Already been done by the tax dept in my county

Yep, and already posted on the Internet for my county. A lot of public information is easily found out about any property. And you can also see an Ariel picture of your house on google.

[RightWhale]

Same here.

[cripplecreek]

My county has satellite imagery with all properties. They include who owns them, value, forclosure info etc.

[RJS1950]

Same in Nebraska.

[DB]

Umm, the real reason for the pictures are for the tax assessor... They want to see if you've added anything that you didn't get a permit for and wasn't assessed. New out building, new pool, new Jacuzzi, new retaining wall etc...

[RightWhale]

Same here.

[FreedomCalls]

And you can also see an Ariel picture of your house on google.

An Ariel picture.

[Shots]

Nothing new here just a new service for banks is all. The first thing they have done for years at Banks, Insurance companies and assessors is take a picture and make an appraisal for their records.

[DreamsofPolycarp]

Reminds me of a time when I was selling homeowners insurance. I had to shoot a picture of the home, so I went and stood in the street outside the home, and opened up my polaroid (yeah, dated, I know). Some woman came charging up the sidewalk from a neighbor's house, and breathlessly demanded to know why I was taking a picture of the home. Since I was on public property (and the homeowner was a friend of mine!), and I was driving a late model ford taurus (DEA type car), I said "ma'am I am from the US investigative division of the department of criminal investigations. Have you noticed any suspicious characters coming in and out of this home? Are any of the persons in this home known drug users? Have you ever noticed strange vehicles here or late night visits? Have YOU ever used any illicit drugs with the residents of this house?" She spluttered a bit about "privacy" and I did my best Elliot Ness impression and asked her to "keep a watch" on the house, and thanked her for her cooperation. She asked for a card and I refused, and I watched her write down my tag number as I drove off.

My friend later told me she was a nutjob, but we had a laugh or two over it.

Doubtless the clowns taking these pics will have a few fun warstories to swap.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Doubtless the clowns taking these pics will have a few fun warstories to swap.

Like satellite photos of naked sunbathers in the backyard.

[ASOC]

Anchorage uses overhead photos as part of the tax machine.

It is a really good image, you can see my truck in the driveway, the sheds in the back yard and me waving to the pilot - telling him he is #1 with me.


I just love big govt, what else would I have to be paranoid about?

[Political Junkie Too]

I bet the real reason for this is to determine a definition of "blight" so governments can condemn private property for more lucrative use.

They are actually making a catalog for government "takings."

-PJ

[roostercashews]

Can't be done in Texas because of a judge who decided it was an invasion of privacy. Many tax districts here (most notably Dallas County) use to have photos of the front of the property along with floor plans on line, which was great for me since I'm in insurance. Dallas spent a lot of money over a two year period getting those pictures made, just to have them removed from the tax web site a few months after the job was complete.

If I'm not mistaken, the photos are still available at the tax office in Dallas but can't be used publicly on the web.

[Oratam]

What's the big deal? NYC did this 70 years ago.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/records/html/taxphotos/home.shtml#order

[Jambe]

I wonder how the various Local, State, Federal authorities would respond if the "ordinary people" started to build a database with home photos, addresses, car tags, phone numbers, etc, etc, of all the Politicians, Judges, School Admins, Inspectors, blah, blah - and offered to sell the information online to - Anybody?