On 4 Jul 2018 14:10:33 GMT, sms wrote:

In the U.S., there is no law that you can't take pictures of anyone, any
house, any car, from the public right-of-way. The mapping companies
voluntarily blur out license plate numbers, faces, and house numbers,
because it upsets some people to have those things clearly visible. It
creeps some people out to have someone taking pictures of them or their
house or their car.

My understanding, mostly from misc.legal.moderated and rec.photo.digital
discussions in the distant past, is that what you say about the ability to
take photos of anything you can see in public in the USA is essentially
true ... except, as I recall, there are corner cases, such as when there is
an "expectation of privacy" by a "reasonable" person.

I don't remember the court case details, but, for example, if you stand on
the sidewalk with a telephoto lens peeking into a neighbor's bathroom
window, that might be one of those 'expectations of privacy' corner cases.