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Google Street View scanning city

Yet another hit to privacy, experts say

By: Geoff Kirbyson

9/04/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 22

Image-capturing Google vehicles like this one have been spotted in the city.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES / GOOGLE Enlarge Image

Image-capturing Google vehicles like this one have been spotted in the city.

If your weekly routine involves secretly ducking into sketchy massage parlours or Starbucks for an extended coffee break, you might want to consider wearing a disguise -- Google Street View is here.

The offspring of Google Maps and Google Earth essentially provides a continuous photographic record of the streetscape in cities in nine countries around the world. Winnipeg, along with 10 other Canadian cities, is next on the list.

A number of vehicles -- they're hard to miss with Google logos with cameras on their roofs -- have been spotted around town over the past couple of days shooting on behalf of the world's dominant search engine.

Tamara Micner, Toronto-based Google spokeswoman, said the purpose of Street View isn't to catch people in any kind of undesirable act, such as peeing in public. Instead, she said Street View has a number of practical uses, such as allowing people to preview holiday accommodations, find meeting spots, explore neighbourhoods and properties and look up driving directions.

"It's sort of like armchair travel," she said. "All of the images are of public roads. This is all stuff you could see if you were walking, biking or driving on a public street."

In an attempt to diffuse privacy concerns, Google Street View automatically blurs out faces and licence plates of people and vehicles that end up in its pictures, which are not in real time. It also has an option where people who are depicted can request that their image be removed.

Arthur Schafer, a professor at the University of Manitoba and director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics, said the arrival of Google Street View signifies a further erosion of privacy. But it shouldn't come as a big shock to most people, considering the vast number of security cameras, camera phones and other image-taking devices on the street today.

"Anybody has the right to take photographs of what happens in public. If you hold the hand of your girlfriend or scratch your crotch, you might be seen. The person who sees you might have a cellphone and they might post it on YouTube," he said.

But Schafer said he expects the number of people who will be worried about Google Street View will be far outweighed by those annoyed by the fact that they weren't captured.

"People by the tens of thousands will be searching for their home or garden. If it's not there, they're upset," he said.

There are, however, people for whom their whereabouts are a matter of personal safety. Women on the run from a violent spouse or stalking victims would not want their location broadcast to the planet, he said. The blurring out of faces and the ability to request certain images be removed are "important safeguards," he said.

But even if faces are unrecognizable, it's possible to decipher somebody's identity by their clothing, hair or body type.

Brian Bowman, a privacy lawyer at Pitblado LLP, said even though the images are being taken in public, Canadians are still protected by the national privacy laws. He said Google and other organizations need to do a better job of informing the public when and where they'll be shooting, such as taking out advertisements in local newspapers, so people can decide whether to be on the street at that time.

"I would expect there will be some privacy complaints by people who feel their image can be ascertained. The privacy commissioner will have to weigh in (on) whether Google is complying," he said. "This is really the beginning of the story. It's nowhere near the end."

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca

 

Virtual strolling

What is Google Street View?

It's a service provided by the world's largest Internet search engine that enables users to take virtual walks down streets in cities in nine different countries, including Italy and England.

When will it launch in Canada?

There is no firm timetable but a Google spokeswoman said it will take at least several months to take pictures in 11 cities across the country -- it's currently shooting in Winnipeg -- and then turn them into the panoramic views for users.

Are the images real-time?

No, pictures that can be seen via Street View were taken in the past year.

Has Google Street View ever helped locate anybody?

Yes, in January its imagery was used by police officers to suc­cessfully find a kidnapped child, a nine-year-old girl from Massachu­setts, in a hotel in rural Virginia.

* * *

'It's sort of like armchair travel. All of the images are of public roads'

-- Tamara Micner, Google spokeswoman

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 9, 2009 A5

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22 Commentscomment icon

Whatisee: you're right..I'm crazy...and so are all of these government, military, scholars etc who say 9/11 was an inside job..Dispute what they say, not me...Challenge them, call them conspiracy theorists..Bet you won't..

http://www.patriotsquestion911.com/
http://www.ae911truth.org/

If you actually look at these sites, I doubt we'll hear back from you....

Are you trying to impress us with just how far gone you are with you conspiracy theory mentality RyeGuy? Really, you are pretty amusing, but I feel bad for you that you can't enjoy life without seeing a bogey man around every corner (watch it! there might be a camera there!). Sad :(

Common sense and reality:
The ties that google has with the CIA has come from former CIA employees like Robert David Steele

http://www.infoworld.com/t/business/google-accused-cia-ties-291

The idea that government is involved with media is not something conspiratorial. Read the de-classified "operation mockingbird" documents.....

Problem today is that we tend to not believe anything unless it comes through the TV....Brezinski talked about this back in the 70's....Ever heard of Building 7? Probably not, they don't show it on TV....Doesn't mean it didn't happen..

WOW google and the CIA - I had no idea. I was wondering what all those unmarked black helicopters were all about.

Where are our liberties being suppressed? If it was illegal to take a picture at the beach of your friends or family and post it on the internet, advocates of our charter of rights and freedoms would be jumping up and down screaming what a totalitarian state we have become because the government has said it is illegal to take pictures in public and allow others to view them. Seriously stop and think, which way do you want it, all or none? There is no in between. Our Charter of rights and freedoms isn't grey its quit clear: our fundamental freedoms are:

"Freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication"

Seems to me if we were to suppress the ability of anyone to take a picture it would be against the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

I'll give you two more:

"Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice."

"Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure."

Is walking into a 7-Eleven, knowing there are cameras there to PROTECT the employees and the business, a breach of the right to life, liberty and security of the person? Is it not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice?

Is taking your drivers licence photo, passport photo, being videotaped without your knowledge by someone with their cell phone while in public, or while shopping by store surveillance cameras, or having the license plate of your vehicle photographed, or having a reporter from the Winnipeg Free Press or the National Enquirer take your picture, an unreasonable search and seizure or a breach of your fundamental rights? I'd say NO.

LMAO @ renter !!! What kinda gas mileage does she get??

Yes, please don't quote fiction and pretend its real. If ya'll have a problem being on camera you should go live with Mr. Crusoe.

HailEris: yes, exactly..."Those who give up liberty for security, deserve neither" Thomas Jefferson

North AMerica was told after 9/11 that the Muslims hate us for our "freedoms"....9/11 did nothing to take away our freedoms...It was the actions after 9/11 that took away our freedoms...Patriot act, warantless arrests, telecom spying...All of which Barack obankster has supported....

I suspect most people don't know the ties that google has with the CIA.....Hey , just google it!...

Enjoy your freedoms...

TheRyeGuy: "People who don't have a problem with something like the google cameras or the cameras on the street don't really understand why they are there. We are slowly moving towards a totalitarian police state. Predictability among the population is paramount to any successful regime....."

Or it's a really great tool to let people view a place they might want to visit or might otherwise not get a chance to visit.

Every technology, no matter how big or small, can have both positive and negative application. The tool we're using right now - the internet - was originally created by the military for military use. Technology is essentially amoral. I for one think it's more "Big Brother" NOT to allow a company to take pictures, than it is for a company to post those pictures.

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Oh geeze..secure those tin-foil hats.

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Spying on people for sure! Guaranteed that sooner or later the authorities will be going to Google and asking if they captured something at such and such a time. Now that may be important or something terrible did happen and it could help to catch a criminal etc., but where does 1 draw the line? Because they can snap your picture without any authorization etc., want to bet the authorities will attempt to act the same way and sidestep the legal process too? Would Google hand it over? Probably. Now that we know they'll be driving around with marked vehicles, I plan on showing my welcome with a one-fingered salute in admiration of their foray into Winnipeg, if I happen to be crossing their path. Maybe even make a sign and carry it around like a sandwich board with this info in bright red paint- "Have you been to Winnipeg yet? We have lousy infrastructure, high taxes, lousy hospitals, car thieves and thousands of other despicable lowlifes- the courts let 'em all back on the street the same day" and so on.... I can hardly wait until those entrepreneurs, the squeegee people spot one of the Google vehicles, get a good wash going on those camera lenses. Google pays their people well, maybe they'll spare a few coins for those same types that stand on the corners with their hand-crafted begging signs????

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