22/12/2008 / WORLD
I wouldn't
say this is designed to pry into people's private lives; that's not what Google
aims to do at all. But you could end up seeing your girlfriend/ boyfriend
kissing someone else, even if their faces are blurred.
As a
web user and user of Google Street View, I like the concept, and on the legal
front, Google's got itself well covered. The people in the photos are
accessories to the image and not the main subject. In France, that
means that they don't have any rights over the image.
Watch yourself... Google's watching you
Posted on Flickr by Akamé.
Beware of tripping over, sunbathing topless, cheating on your partner in public... - if there's a Google van passing by, the evidence will be forever set in a 360-degree photographic panorama and posted online for all to see.
Google's ever increasing mapping applications are getting ever-increasingly closer to our personal lives. Suspicious minds won't need to bother with private detectives - they can simply log on to Google Maps and access the pedestrian-level view of the entire city - if they're lucky enough to live in Milan, Paris, or the majority of the US, New Zealand, Australia or Japan... Otherwise, not long to wait - Google Street View is soon to arrive in the UK and looks set to pan the entire world.
So far the application has been received warmly, and perceived as a meeting, directions and house hunting tool. There are even activities like scavenger hunts set up for those who find Street View more aesthetically pleasing than real life. However, as the data collector travels further afield and more "Street View Tourists" find themselves online - not necessarily doing something they're proud of - Google has found itself under fire for privacy concerns. In Japan, a group of lawyers have set themselves up under the name "The Campaign Against Surveillance Society", just weeks after the application was rolled out there. And in the UK, there's already an anti Street View project going, before the programme has even been launched.
"You could end up seeing your girlfriend/ boyfriend kissing someone else"
Jean-Marc Manach is one of the organisers of the Big Brother Awards - a privacy watchdog in France.
In terms of dispute, there's a button users can use to make a complaint about shocking images. In the US, we already saw images of two girls sunbathing topless taken off the site.
It doesn't surprise me that people in the UK are rallying against the arrival of Street View. In a country where millions of cameras film 24 hours a day, citizens have become reluctant of more surveillance over the past few years. So much so that the government is having trouble implementing an ID card system..."
"I don't see how Google Street View will face problems"
Bruno Anatrella is a lawyer from Paris specialised in privacy laws.
Google has managed to avoid dabbling with fundamental rights and the right to pass by: in using a van to film, they are not obstructing anyone's way, as a journalist does when he sets up a camera on the pavement for example. They've also protected themselves by blurring sensitive areas (military bases, certain ministries).
Thus I don't see how Google Street View will face problems. It looks good, and it's within the law. Google Earth is riskier, because it accesses things that you can't normally see. A swimming pool in your garden for example, when you haven't declared your taxes..."
The world reacts to Street View
UK. In revenge for the arrival of Google's "Orwellian Street View fleet" to the UK, tech site The Register invited readers to send in snapped sightings of Google vans around the country and post them on...Google Maps.
USA. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the van attracted cheering crowds.
Italy. This unfortunate van driver was captured talking to the wrong person, it seems.
Spain. Not big fans of the concept, according to this scooter driver.
Japan. Web users track the progression of two young lovers.
USA. Flickr users discuss whether insurance companies might be interested in using the application.
France. When we searched our own location, we were surprised to see one of our own Team Observers on the map!
Sign up via 
What we’re working on now...
Shows
Comments
re
Submitted by Unregistered user joseph walker (not verified) on Mon, 22/12/2008 - 20:18.Merry christamas and a happy new year to observers @france24.com.
Unregistered user
google
Submitted by Unregistered user joseph walker (not verified) on Mon, 22/12/2008 - 20:12.We in england have so many cameras watching us ,probably the most in the western world ,another ,wont make much difference, the english have thier own intrepetation on democracy,well its goverments anyway.
Unregistered user