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).
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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!