Google faces invasion of privacy lawsuit from Pennsylvania couple

Brian White — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Products and Services, Google (GOOG)

A couple in Pennsylvania who values their privacy is suing Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) because its Street View product is making images of their house available for free to anyone with an internet connection. The couple argues that by Google Street View archiving views of their home, it's being devalued.

The Boring couple (yes, that is their last name) is seeking at least $25,000 in damages from the world's largest internet search company in what could be a large precedent. How many other "private" areas has Google Street View been able to present for free on the internet that many don't even know about? Google is all about giving anyone information access at any time on any device -- but at the cost of privacy loss for those that value it? Where is the line drawn? Right now, there doesn't seem to be one.

This case is unique because the images of the Boring's home seem to have been taken from the couple's driveway, which is clearly labeled "Private Road" -- it's what the couple was seeking in 2006 when it brought the property. The publicizing of their case, however, is anything but private. Google made it clear in the response to the suit that they have made it quite easy to request image removal from its Street View product. The question remains -- what rulebook does the company use when photographing areas for display anyway?

Google faces invasion of privacy lawsuit from Pennsylvania couple originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is Google Street View a Web 2.0 peeping Tom?

Peter Cohan — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 15:24:00 EST

Filed under: Google (GOOG)

Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) added a feature to its Google Maps called Street View which is making some people ask the question: How private is private? Street View offers panoramic views of miles of streets around San Francisco, New York, Las Vegas, Miami and Denver.

Here are some examples of pictures that make people nervous:

Two young women sunbathing in their bikinis on the Stanford campus in Palo Alto, CA.
A man scaling the front gate of an apartment building in San Francisco.
An apartment building in Oakland, CA with a picture of a couple's cat, sitting on a perch in the living room window of their second-floor apartment.
A man standing in front of a lap dance establishment in San Francisco, CA
A man entering a pornographic bookstore in Oakland, CA.
Cars whose license plates are clearly readable.

Google says that people can opt out of Street View. To help with that process, I suggest Google offer an image search tool that will let people pop their picture into the search box to see whether it appears in Street View.

Do you think Google's opt out policy makes Street View acceptable?

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in Google.

Is Google Street View a Web 2.0 peeping Tom? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 01 Jun 2007 15:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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