Google's detailed streetscapes raise privacy concerns

[jesseps]

you are beside the point.

 

its still an invasion of privacy when some of the photos showed people inside of their homes.

 

Where will it stop?

 

Good question. You are a smart fellow, what kind of answers are you coming up with?!

[mtlurb]

I don't have an answer, or I would be giving speeches all over the world at this moment

[MTLskyline]

I agree with you Malek. I don't like the thought of hidden cameras keeping tabs on me.

 

But then again, if you didn't do anything wrong, what do you have to be worried about?

[jesseps]

Google Inc.'s top voice on privacy said the company is working on a version of its controversial Street View application that will adhere to Canada's privacy laws, a move that could pave the way for a new, albeit blurry, way of navigating through Canadian cities.

 

Street View is a new feature on Google's map service which depicts thousands of street-level images of major American cities. Not only does the feature show users the addresses they are searching for, but it also provides a view much more like the one they would see when travelling to the location.

 

(Courtesy of CBC News)

 

You can read more when you click on the link.

[mcgill]

Who hear hasn't stumbled upon a photo on the internet of themself or someone they know, and thought "Wait a minute, I never agreed to let someone post a picture of me!" Chances are, if this hasn't happened to you yet, it will soon. And even when you contact the website and they remove the picture, they still have that picture somewhere.

 

So to all the photographers out there, I was wondering: What are the rules about taking pictures that have someone in them? Do you need oral or written consent?

 

Anecdote:

I took the bus to Quebec City the other day and the teenagers sitting in front of me kept trying to covertly photograph me with their camera phones. I eventually told them to stop and I made them erase all the pictures they had taken while in the bus (they had many pictures of other people on the bus).

[mtlurb]

officially, you can't have people singled out in your pics without a release form... the law in Québec is pretty strict about this.

[jesseps]

officially, you can't have people singled out in your pics without a release form... the law in Québec is pretty strict about this.

 

How does it work if the photos are sent and processed on a server outside of Quebec or even Canada?

[mtlurb]

How does it work if the photos are sent and processed on a server outside of Quebec or even Canada?

 

it doesn't really matter.

[Cataclaw]

Oh please... we have the indians in kahnawake operating 99.9% of the online gambling in north america... and you're citing the harsh Quebec laws.

 

This google business is really simple, if you ask me:

 

1. Blur people's faces

2. Blur anybody inside of a building or private property

 

Everything else is as it is. If you're on the street, then you're out in public and that makes you fair game.

 

The bottom line: Privacy laws are meant to protect your privacy when you're in private. When you're out in public, you're no long in private, now are you. I want my privacy protected. What goes on in my home is my business and nobody elses. What i do on the Sainte-Catherine street at noon, is everybody's business since i'm out in the open.