Google's Street View sparks privacy concerns

By JEFF SMITH
Scripps Howard News Service
Monday, June 04, 2007

Terrific navigational device or over the edge?

That's a question many are asking about Google Inc.'s newest map feature, Street View, which offers panoramic images of Denver's downtown streets and those of four other cities.

Google, which launched Street View this week on Google Maps, touts the benefits of easily finding places and understanding neighborhoods. Street View also was launched in Las Vegas, Miami, New York and the San Francisco Bay Area.

But blogs on Internet sites such as Wired.com, BoingBoing.net and Streetviewr.com are full of images from Street View revealing people in potentially embarrassing positions: Stanford University coeds sunbathing in bikinis, men leaving strip clubs, a man picking his nose.

John Soma, executive director of the Privacy Foundation at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, said Google's new map feature raises a question common to the introduction of many technologies.

"How do we ensure this technology is used correctly?" he said.

There may not be any easy answer. He refers to former Intel CEO Andy Grove's famous saying, which goes something like: "You cannot stop technology. At most, you can guide it and help shape its development."

Photos with privacy implications, such as images of nude sunbathers -- "those are going to have to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis," Soma said. "It's a slow process to learn those things."

Of course, as soon as one person spots such an image, it's likely to be placed on the Internet for millions to see.

Google spokeswoman Kate Hurowitz said by e-mail that Google takes privacy seriously.

"Street View only features imagery taken on public property and is not -real time," she said. "This imagery is no different from what any person can readily capture or see walking down the street."

Street View is a snapshot in time. The Denver footage was gathered by vehicles equipped with imaging technology a couple of months to a year ago. Some of the photos are dark, some are outdated. Street View doesn't extend much beyond the core downtown area, and Google isn't providing details about when it will become more extensive.

Hurowitz added that while Street View is designed to help users find, discover and plan activities, "we respect the fact that people may not want imagery they feel is objectionable."

She said that before the launch, Google worked with several public service organizations to address privacy concerns, leading, in part, to the exclusion of photos containing some domestic violence shelters to ensure the privacy of those locations.

Hurowitz said the Street View imagery "bubble" also contains a link to "Street View Help," where users can report objectionable images.

Soma said that shows Google is "at least aware of the sensitivity of some of the pictures." But, he said, it's hard to keep up when technology to provide such glimpses of people's lives keeps getting more sophisticated.

One of the most public places in downtown Denver, the 16th Street Mall, appears to offer some of the best privacy.

Because the Google images were taken from vehicles, mall images were mostly confined to intersections. The most scandalous photo spotted during a quick tour? A man giving a bear hug to a woman. Even the most strident privacy advocates can probably live with that one.