Google Street View Invasion of Privacy

The enthusiasm was evident in social networks by the entry of Google Street View. For many of us was practical for others this development can mean a violation of privacy. The pictures of house numbers, which are taken from doors and fences on its Street View mapping service, appear on Google’s websites. According to the article of Consumer Affairs Editor (Hall, 2012), campaign groups said that the use of pictures of real house numbers presents “serious” security issues, and accused the internet company of being “underhand and crude”. Earlier this year, a Frenchman shown urinating in his front yard on Google Street View sued the company already facing criticism over privacy policy changes, PC World reported. Other embarrassing moments captured by the cars’ cameras include men entering adult-entertainment stores and a naked man emerging from the trunk of a car. In 2010, Google’s cars also collected Wi-Fi data in several countries, prompting independent investigations, according to the Electronic Privacy Information Center. Information gathered included email passwords and content and device and network IDs related to private wireless networks (Poulnot, 2012).

Not formal legal action against Google’s street imagery has been filed yet. Hence, privacy law attorneys say taking pictures of public places is legal. “The law allows you to take a picture of anything you can see as long as you’re in a public place,” said Kelli Sager, a 1st Amendment lawyer in Los Angeles. Since Google’s street view was launched just recently and it is only available from 5 U.S. cities, lawsuits are not piling up thus far (Arias, n.d.). The right to privacy has evolved to protect the freedom of individuals to perform certain actions and undergo certain experiences. The Google team did a good job of addressing the privacy concerns for street view. They are aware that the Street View images may contain objectionable content. Now you can easily contact the Street View team if you see an image that should be protected or you can request further blurring of a specific image.

References

Arias, M. (n.d.). Internet law – is google map street view an invasion of privacy?. Retrieved from http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=latestnews&id=1823 Hall, J. (2012, April). Google accused of invading privacy with pictures of house numbers. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/9205486/Google-accused-of-invading-privacy-with-pictures-of-house-numbers.html Poulnot, B. (2012, September). Google street view car: Invasion of privacy?. Retrieved from http://cartersville.patch.com/articles/google-street-view-car-in-cartersville