Google Street View sparks privacy fears in Oz
Google Street View, the street level photographic mapping service, has arrived in Australia amid concerns over privacy.
The project has already integrated images of 17 US cities with the Google Maps application, causing controversy with photos of men outside strip clubs and women sunbathing in parks.
Australian privacy laws are tighter than in the US, and Google Australia’s Rob Shilkin, Head of Corporate Communications, was quick to stress that they would be making every effort to ensure there would be no privacy transgressions.
“We’re giving very considerable thought to how best to safeguard Australians’ privacy, including consulting experts and community groups, while enabling all Australians to benefit from this new feature,” said Mr Shilkin.
He also added that Google were working to make sure that individuals’ faces and licence plate numbers would be obscured in pictures taken in Australia.
The images will be collected via 360° cameras mounted on a fleet of specially adapted Google cars that will be touring Australian cities this summer. The photos will then be processed before appearing online late next year.
One observer who will be checking that Google fully comply with Australian privacy laws will be David Vaile, executive driector of the Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre at the University of New South Wales.
“The gold standard from something like this would be a public privacy impact assessment that occurs before they are locked in,” said Mr Vaile. “… with a commitment to comply fully with Australian law and legal protections [and] without seeking to use their corporate structure to escape through jurisdictional tricks,”
Others are more receptive to Google’s plans, with estate agents, tourism operators and even geography teachers interested in taking advantage of the system.
“[It] will help give people buying property a great feel for the local neighbourhoods and streets that they might be interested in,” commented Matthew Cooper, proprietor of Ray White Real Estate (Balmain).
Google are also likely to face stiff opposition should they decide to roll-out Street View to Europe. European laws require express permission for the use of commercial snaps where individuals could be identified, which (unless Google’s photo cars intend to pull over every 50 yards to collect signatures) is likely to mean lengthy and expensive image processing.
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