Google moves to quash privacy fears

NOT EVIL AT ALL search engine behemoth Google has reacted to Canadian fears that its hi-res Street View service will breach local privacy laws.

Google's Global Privacy Counsel, Peter Fleischer, writes in his Bog:

"We thought hard about how to design Street View so that the service would respect the privacy of people who happen to be walking down a public street at the random moment when we capture an image. That's why we designed a simple process for anyone to contact us and have their image removed… we have been careful to only collect images that anyone could see walking down a public street."

Street View lets people view and navigate within 360 degree street level pictures of cities. Since its launch in May, seven US cities have been added to the service. Canada's worries about Street View are perhaps a tad premature as the service isn't available there yet.

"Street View isn't available outside of the US yet," affirms Fleischer. "But when it is, we'll be sure to respect local laws. We understand that means that we'll have to ensure that there aren't identifiable faces and license (sic) plates in some countries. There's an important public policy debate in every country around what privacy means in public spaces. That balance will vary from country to country, and Street View will respect it."

However, in this reporter's humble opinion, Google's time and efforts might perhaps be better employed in enhancing its coverage of North Wales so that objects smaller than a supertanker can be identified before worrying about Joe Canuck's wife spotting his car outside a whorehouse in downtown Toronto." µ

See also
Canadian official says Google Maps might breach privacy law

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