Privacy Concerns Raised About Google Street View

Canada's Privacy Commissioner has raised concerns over street level photography which is publicly available through Google Street View. Google Street View is an application within Google Maps, an online mapping program, which provides street level panoramas of several US cities. These street level images are captured from high-resolution video cameras mounted on vehicles which drive through city streets. These images are collected, stored and sold by Immersive Media Corporation (Immersive), a company located in Alberta. In contrast to satellite imagery, which does not typically enable the identification of individuals, street level images enable users to pinpoint identifiable individuals along with their location, date and time. Examples of images include sunbathers, protesters at an abortion clinic, men exiting a strip club and the inside of residences as seen through windows. Although Google permits the removal of specific images upon request, the images of individuals are collected unknowingly. Although Google Street View does not collect images in Canada, the Commissioner has written letters to Immersive and Google expressing her concerns on the impact of this technology on the personal privacy rights of individuals and requesting responses to her privacy concerns. The Commissioner has stated that the street level images constitute personal information as they are sufficiently clear to allow identification of an individual. The Commissioner is concerned that image collection practices are contrary to the requirements of knowledge, consent and limited collection of personal information under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. In response to the Commissioner's concerns, Google has announced that it will blur personal identifiers, such as faces and license plate numbers, when the Street View program is launched in Canada. For the Canadian Privacy Commissioner's statement, see: http://www.privcom.gc.ca/media/nr-c/2007/an_070911_e.asp For the Canadian Privacy Commissioner's letter to Google, see: http://www.privcom.gc.ca/media/let/let_070911_01_e.asp For the Canadian Privacy Commissioner's letter to Immersive Media, see: http://www.privcom.gc.ca/media/let/let_070911_02_e.asp For an article from CNET, see: http://tinyurl.com/2aafg9 For an article from the The New York Times, see: http://tinyurl.com/2aldzu For an article from the National Post newspaper, see: http://tinyurl.com/27awpz Summary by: Lauren Lodenquai