Google has just put up a post on their LatLong blog with some of their thoughts about privacy expectations in StreetView.
It’s kind of a rambling post (paragraph break, anyone?) and there’s nothing too exciting in there, but here are some snippets:
- “…we designed a simple process for anyone to contact us and have their image removed.” (note: When viewing an image, click on “Street View Help” at the top and you’ll find a link to report the image.
- “…people don’t have the same expectations of privacy as they do in their homes.”
- “…Street View will respect local laws…” (repeated a few more times with different wording)
It seems like kind of a random post, but maybe they felt they should put up an official stance on the privacy issues surrounding StreetView. Prior to this, I don’t think they’ve done anything but respond to criticism against it (example 1, 2).
Big Brother says
Check out this list of the “alleged” Google Street View privacy invasions already discovered in the US:
http://www.laudontech.com/google-street-view/google-street-view.html
There is even a Google Street View capture of a woman going in for an HIV test!