What is the source of your implication that there is something wrong? No one is implying that. All too often people interpret headlines as indications that so

What is the source of your implication that there is something wrong? No one is implying that. All too often people interpret headlines as indications that something is wrong and instantly feel the need to "react." (typically by dividing into camps of denial and counterattack) It's simply an announcement. You're free as an American to do what you like using the benefit of this free information. It could just as well have been stated like this: "Hey everyone. Just so you know: If you see a truck around that has a Google logo on it and you think that you can act as if it's going to be taking a picture here and there for map purposes and blur out your face, it's not." "In fact, it appears to be owned by the government and we don't know exactly what it's doing. So, if you happen to be considering some activity, such as taking a shortcut through a neighborhood which would automatically delegate you a suspect due to your race not fitting in, etc., you might want to re-consider, since we have no idea what the legally-collected data from this vehicle will be used for."