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H14488

Headlines : Civil Liberties

Summary:

The controversy continues across the U.S. and Europe over the legality of Google’s Street View, the newest addition to Google Maps.

Street View differs from Google’s other map functions in that it allows users to manipulate high resolution panoramic photos taken from particular cities across the U.S. The intended purpose of Street View seems questionable to some, especially those who happen to have been caught on film by the third party provider Immersive Media Company’s View-Mobile. The vehicles responsible for gathering the information are equipped with a patented 11-lens camera mounted atop the roof.

When asked about the legality issue, Google spokeswomen Megan Quinn replied, “This imagery is no different from what any person can readily capture or see walking down the street.”

Immersive Media has called this new technology GeoImersive . It combines 360 degree video data with embedded Global Positioning Technology information (GPS). This data can then be integrated into any mapping application, allowing users to stream images of the environment chosen from a database covering over 40,000 miles of North American and European geographic information. All while remaining in the comfort of their remote location.

The debate continues as to whether or not Google’s decision to launch “Street View” is immersive, or rather invasive. Lawmakers in Europe point out that the service faces the possibility of being outlawed for its intrusion on human rights.

[Posted By IfPandNPthenWE]

By Associated Press
Republished from CNN.com

Google's new Street View map feature perches precariously on invasion of personal privacy

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) — Google Inc. bills the latest twist on its online maps as “Street View” but it looks a bit like “Candid Camera” as you cruise through the panorama of pictures that captured fleeting moments in neighborhoods scattered across the country.

In San Francisco, there’s a man picking his nose on a street corner, another fellow taking out the trash and another guy scaling the outside of an apartment building, perhaps just for fun or maybe for some more sinister purpose.

Potentially embarrassing or compromising scenes like these are raising questions about whether the Internet’s leading search engine has gone too far in its latest attempt to make the world a more accessible — and transparent — place.

Privacy experts believe these kinds of ticklish situations are bound to arise as technology makes it increasingly easy to share pictures and video on the Internet, pitting the rights of free expression against the rights to personal privacy.

Because Google’s street-level pictures were taken in public places, the company appears to be on solid legal ground.

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