Right now you can go to the Terraserver site and look at satellite images of about a third of the United States and various parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. Microsoft's plan is to develop a universal database of images down to a much finer resolution. Soon the database will include almost the entire globe at a one meter resolution, and more detail is coming. Of course, if you can follow rhinos in real time, you can also follow other animals, like human beings. We'll be enjoying the photos.
Satellite photography is a voyeurs dream come true.
Microsoft is not the first to invade your privacy. The governments of many countries have been taking satellite photos during the last 40 years. In fact, some of the photos on the Microsoft site were taken by Russian spy satellites. US intelligence agencies can see, but not read, a car license plate with photos taken by satellites 100 miles above the earth. Fortunately, you could normally count on the incompetence of national security agencies to prevent much real damage being done.