Friday, November 13, 2009
Swiss Privacy Agency to Sue Google Over Street View
This article talks about the recent action Swiss officials have taken in to sue Google to get them to tighten privacy safeguards on its Street View online service. Street View shows a panoramic view of streets all across the world. Google blurs out faces and license plates that might show up and users of the service can also request that images of their homes can be removed or blurred. Initially, the Swiss had been accepting of Street Views but now are going back on their offer. The complaining agency said that Google was not clear with their intentions and they thought it would just be in busy areas. Google has gone into more secluded neighborhoods where people can be identified even if their faces are blurred. This is yet another case of Google being a large influence on technology and innovation. The courts have not yet made a ruling, but it will be interesting to see what happens in the future.
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6 comments:
This is really interesting. I had never thought of Street View as being an invasion of privacy before, but I do think it is. I think it could be dangerous for people to have close-ups of their homes available to anyone. I know Google says people can request to have images removed or blurred, but what about people who don't have internet access or who just don't know about this? I definitely think this has gone too far.
I totally agree with you Christina and I never thought about all of the people who do not have access to the internet. I just visited the site and realized this summer when I was working on the University of Pennsylvania campus they would ride the bikes around with cameras on them and I never knew what this was for. I can see how this is an invasion of privacy because these cameras can get really close!
I'm surprised this is just now becoming an issue and that only the Swiss are upset about it. From a legal stand point people usually get really heated about their privacy rights. I wonder if the United States government has any response to the Swiss case.
I've never really even considered the use of Street View before, but it is pretty frightening to consider that anybody can see exactly what your house, business, etc. looks like. It is also surprising that more people have not voiced concerns about this (as some of the other comments noted) especially the United States, since we are a nation so concerned with protecting privacy and its related rights. It seems unfair for Google to be upset that people are worried about their privacy - especially considering many other people and places may follow suit.
This issue should be addressed in the correct manner by a joint number of governments, as this is a clear cut invasion of privacy. One of the other reasons why this satellite view should be either banned or password restricted to use, is because these kind of images lead to an increased rate in crime and attacks around the world. I believe that this should be seriously taken up by other governments as well, and should be banned on a vote of majority.
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