what happens in your neighborhood while you are at work

I was clearing the table from lunch when I saw a man standing at the edge of my grass with a camera. I realize that it is legal to photograph or record anybody doing anything at anytime from anywhere but he is clearly not a peeping Tom because he had what looked like an ID hanging from his neck so why is he here? He took a picture of my house, talked into a recorder and went across the street to stand in front of our neighbor’s house. After a few moments he took a photo of that house, talked into his recorder and moved on to the next house…

I called the Village Hall to find out if a company had registered with them in order to take pictures or solicit in any way. I explained to the woman who barely knows her own job, let alone anything out of the ordinary, that he was taking photos of every house as far as I could see and surely this was something the village ought to know about. Nope. I was told to call the police and check with them. The dispatcher confirms that this company is registered under the name ZAIO. They are taking pictures of every house in the zip code but I can tell him if I don’t want my house photographed. OK, let me go back in time so I can be outside waiting for him to come down my block. Thanks for all your help.

ZAIO.com states "Zaio is in the process of photographing and appraising each and every property in cities across the country…The resulting database of images and valuations is called "GeoPic," and is a useful resource for real estate, mortgage and insurance industries…" A Google search brings up a lot of comments from both sides of this type of company.

I understand that companies like ZAIO benefit some but I think most homeowners, if given the chance, would ask that their house not be photographed. It doesn’t make sense to me that these people can come into town, register the name of their company and immediately invade our privacy. They, and everyone who must register with a town (solicitors & such) should be required to wait 48 hours before they begin whatever it is they have requested permission to do. Just because the police give the okay to wander around the neighborhood taking pictures or ringing doorbells does not in any way mean that I too welcome them. How about we make them wait 48 hours and in that time the police or village must post on a public board somewhere that during certain hours on certain days XYZ Company would be here for whatever purpose. This way those that would opt out if given the opportunity are in fact given the chance.

I did go to their website where I was able to request that my property not be included in their search but I was not given confirmation and without paying for access to records I have no way of knowing if it is in fact done.

I was curious afterwards as to how many similar companies there are. My house and all public record information (last sale date, price, # of rooms, sq footage) along with a satellite image, which also shows my car parked out front, is posted on many websites (cyberhomes.com and zillow.com just to name two) along with approximate appraisals.

Maybe some, or even most people don’t mind all of this…I do though. It is an invasion of my privacy and just further confirms that little by little all of our rights are being taken from us.

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