One of Google’s more popular slogans is “Don’t be evil.” A new one may turn out to be “Complete privacy does not exist.” ReputationDefender Blog recently ran into this interesting story about digital privacy and Google Street View.
Pennsylvania residents Aaron and Christine Boring filed an invasion of privacy lawsuit against Google earlier this year because images of their home were published on the popular engine’s “Street View” mapping feature. Google has moved to dismiss, arguing that the couple:
live in a residential community in the twenty-first-century United States, where every step upon private property is not deemed by law to be an actionable trespass.
Google’s legal eagles go on to assert that
Today’s satellite-image technology means that even in today’s desert, complete privacy does not exist. In any event, Plaintiffs live far from the desert and are far from hermits.
The photos, such as they are, do not reveal much of the Boring home (no pun intended), and appear to be from the couple’s driveway, which is allegedly a private road in its own right. Google’s motion notes that the company intends to prove that there was no sign designating the road as private. True to their first motto, Google has removed its “Street View” photos of the Boring residence after the couple filed its lawsuit.
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[...] Street View, which has attracted criticism in the United States and elsewhere throughout the world, challenges our collective notion of [...]
[...] Street View, which has attracted criticism in the United States and elsewhere throughout the world, challenges our collective notion of [...]
[...] Back in 2008, a couple filed a lawsuit against Google after they discovered that their home could be seen in great detail using Google Street View. Their lawsuit was previously dismissed, but, according to this article from CNET, it has been reinstated by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. In the decision to allow the case to proceed, however, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals made it clear that the burden of demonstrating damage fell solely on the couple, and that if they could show no harm from Google Street View, the odds of them receiving damages of any kind were slim. [...]
[...] Back in 2008, a couple filed a lawsuit against Google after they discovered that their home could be seen in great detail using Google Street View. Their lawsuit was previously dismissed, but, according to this article from CNET, it has been reinstated by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. In the decision to allow the case to proceed, however, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals made it clear that the burden of demonstrating damage fell solely on the couple, and that if they could show no harm from Google Street View, the odds of them receiving damages of any kind were slim. [...]
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