So… you think Google maps has given you headaches?

Just be thankful you don’t live in Lithuania.

Five years ago, Google rolled out a series of extensive updates to its Google Maps application including a more refined search view and more detailed terrain. But now, people in the Baltic country are probably wishing the maps were a little less useful.

After Street View was released in the country earlier this year, Lithuanian tax authorities were able to nail 100 homeowners and 30 construction companies for avoiding taxes.

By using the application to inspect land in major cities, the officials were able to look into suspicious properties and pinpoint homes built where they shouldn’t have been.

But while some applaud the country’s innovative use of the application, others maintain that it violates the privacy of homeowners.

The Lithuanian revenue agency has dismissed these claims, saying that it made sure to discuss security concerns with Google and lawyers before proceeding with the project. Karolis Liutkevicius, a lawyer at the Human Rights Monitoring Institute in Vilnius, agrees:

“If they were using it as [their] sole tool, then it could possibly be qualified as a violation. But in this case it’s just using a modern resource.”

What do you think? Is this making good use of resources, or is it a case of technology gone too far? Let us know in the comments below.