Tag archive: View

Google's Street View seems like a great idea—give users of its Google maps product a street-level view of a location so they can more easily find their way around. But the service has engendered all manners of privacy complaints, particularly from individuals who claim they can be identified from photos appearing on the service. The latest brouhaha is in Japan, where Google has quietly announced it will reshoot all photographs… Read More

Apparently you can find a lot more than good hiking trails and deer getting hit by the Street View van using Google Earth. On Thursday, police in Switzerland reported that they successfully used Google Maps’ satellite view to spot a discrete marijuana-growing operation from the sky. According to the Associated Press, officers in Thurgau, Switzerland were attempting to find the address of two farmers implicated in a drug ring when… Read More

The Kanshi Shakai o Kyohisuru Kai (Campaign Against Surveillance Society), a group of Japanese lawyers and professors led by Sophia University constitutional law professor Yasuhiko Tajima, have asked Internet giant Google to shut down Google Street View on the grounds that it violates basic privacy rights. Google Street View provides 360-degree, panoramic views of selected streets and areas from a pedestrian or vehicle's perspective,… Read More

When Google’s Street View mapping tool was proposed for the UK, privacy groups were quick to shout no, but now the Information Commissioner’s office (ICO) has given the nod to the service, although it has requested another meeting with Google prior to the UK Street View launch. The system uses panoramic photographs to show locations in cities and towns, which are added to Google Street Maps. The technology debuted in the US in… Read More

Privacy advocates may have been powerless to prevent Google from cataloging pictures of their homes and lawns when Street View debuted last summer, but residents of one small Minnesota town have found a way to prevent it entirely: own the streets. Residents of North Oaks, Minn. have successfully removed their town from Street View because of its unique system of privately owned streets. Unlike the vast majority of U.S. roads which are… Read More

Google just can’t seem to get a break with Street View. After drawing the ire of privacy advocates in the U.S. when it launched last summer and getting a preemptive warning from Canada’s privacy commissioner that the service may not be legal there, the European Union has now also expressed concerns over bringing Street View to its cities. According to Reuters, the European Union’s Data Protection Supervisor, Peter… Read More

Maybe “all your base are belong to us,” but, according to the Department of Defense, not all their bases belong to Google. Or at least, not pictures of them: at the DOD's request, Google is removing some images from its Street View street-level mapping service because the pictures could pose a security risk to U.S. military bases. Street View is a feature of Google Maps that currently offers ground-level views of streets… Read More

While its legal status in Canada may still be up in the air, Google Street View has expanded into six new U.S. cities without problems. Google announced the addition on Tuesday on its Lat Long Blog. Online pedestrians can now peruse Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland and Tucson. Besides the added locations, Google has also improved the quality of Street View imagery. Views in Phoenix, Tucson and Chicago are all high… Read More

It’s no secret that Google Street View caused a splash with privacy groups in the United States when it debuted in May, but there was ultimately no legal reason for complaint since all of the photos were taken on public streets. The same may not be true in Canada, where tougher privacy laws prohibit publishing photos of identifiable people without permission. According to Reuters UK, Google may actually have to blur our… Read More