One of my students mentioned the other day that she was mortified when she found her house in Northeast Minneapolis on Google Earth. Just for fun, she was flying around on Google Earth and decided to stop in and see her own crib. It turns out that the local photograph of her home on Google Earth had been taken in the latter, very messy, phase of a giant yard sale. So her house looks like total trash. “Who cares?” you might ask? Well, anyone who might like to put their home on the market, for instance.Well, it turns out that a Pittsburgh couple is suing Google for “mental suffering” and invasion of their privacy:<\/p>\n
“A couple from Pittsburgh has sued Google because a photo of their house appeared on Google Street View. They are demanding in excess of $25,000 to make up for the ‘mental suffering’ and the diminished value of their home. Their street is apparently marked with a ‘Private Road’ sign, and they claim that putting a photo of their property online is an ‘intentional and\/or grossly reckless invasion’ of their privacy. Google, on the other hand, claims that this lawsuit is pointless since anyone can ask them to have pictures removed without legal action. We’ve previously discussed some of the privacy concerns surrounding Street View.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This is from Slashdot.<\/a> You can find links there to more information.(This provides a whole new meaning to the term “Open Access.”)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of my students mentioned the other day that she was mortified when she found her house in Northeast Minneapolis on Google Earth. Just for fun, she was flying around on Google Earth and decided to stop in and see her own crib. It turns out that the local photograph of her home on Google … Continue reading Google Earth and Your Privacy<\/span>