Google threatens to shut down Swiss Street View

AP ^ | 5-10-11 | FRANK JORDANS

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GENEVA (AP) -- Google is threatening to wipe photographs of streets and houses in Switzerland from its online maps unless the country's supreme court overturns a ruling requiring an absolute guarantee of anonymity for people captured on the popular Street View service.

Shutting down Street View in an entire country would be the Internet search giant's most severe response yet to complaints it is violating people's privacy.

The Mountain View, California-based company said Wednesday it will ask the Swiss Federal Tribunal to throw out a lower court decision that obliged it to ensure all faces and vehicle license plates are blurred before uploading pictures to the Street View service.

[moehoward]

No I understand perfectly. They can’t use a picture of you taken in your home. Probably can’t use it even if you’re not in it.
Some retailers even forbid interior photography because it violates ‘intellectual copyright’. That’s here though. Looks like the Swiss take it a bit more seriously. Good for them.

[SoothingDave]

No, it was not “better” before Streetview. I’ve used it numerous times to aid me in finding my way to new destinations.

You have no “privacy” when you are on a public road.

[discostu]

I like street view. It’s nice going into a neighborhood you haven’t been to for a while, see the landmarks for the turn. Especially nice for some chunks of Marana that like to stick the road signs way far away from the cross street so they’re nearly impossible to read. There’s no right to privacy out on the public street, or viewable from the public street.

[Milton Miteybad]

Street View is a useful tool. I use it to get the lay of the land before I drive onto a highway or street I haven't visited before.

For those who are concerned about "privacy" issues, what is the difference between photos taken by Google Street View from the public ROW and the aerial photographs taken by taxing jurisdictions for mapping and assessment purposes? Very little, really; perhaps the vantage point from which the images are taken (one taken from the air, the other from the ground.) The data for both, however, eventually end up in the public domain.

Some might say, "But Google Street View makes it so easy for somebody to find a picture of my house!" Well, I guess that's true. But then again, if Google Street View did not exist, still, somebody would be able to drive past your house, take a picture and publish the same via any number of means.

I guess the lesson to be learned here is: "Don't use your front yard as a junk car lot, keep the grass cut, pick up the trash, fix all those issues the HOA has been writing you about...because you never know when somebody going to wander past with a camera, whether on foot or in a Google Street View Van."

[familyop]

If you want that kind of privacy, there are ways to build it. As for those who aren’t concerned about it, let them live without it.

Some of the following suggestions might work best in rural areas, and others, anywhere. A few hints to put the creepers off:

* Build fences or walls for looky-loos to look at.

* Mount your own cameras w/ software motion detection connected to remote servers for auto-uploads. Store pictures of looky-loos. Get their identities. On private roads, they can be prosecuted for trespassing.

* Mount utility poles to near maximum heights for solar lights and cameras (see nuisances w/ rotary wings). Check local codes first. Practice a model rocketry hobby while taking safety precautions for low-flying sightseers.

* Plant some trees.

* Build screened or netted breezeways between living areas and work areas.

* Build speed bumps on your private roads, or have them built on your streets. If you have private roads, prosecute the trespassers.

* Use your imaginations. Find more ideas, and share them with others concerned about privacy.