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Google's Street View Meets Resistance In France

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the not-surrendering dept.

Ian Lamont writes "Google has begun to scan the streets of Paris as part of its Street View service, but the company may be hindered from publishing them unedited. The reason? French privacy laws. Google may be forced to blur faces or use low-resolution versions of the photographs. The Embassy of France in the US has a page devoted to French privacy laws, that says the laws are needed to 'avoid infringing the individual's right to privacy and right to his or her picture (photograph or drawing), both of them rights of personality.'"

3 of 201 comments (clear)

  1. I usually do not respond to AC's, but.... by rts008 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I do not mean ANY offense to the people of France, but any time the subject of 'French Resistance' enters the discussion, I think of this:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_French_Forces

    (yes, I know I am skating around Godwin's Law here, but just think about the big picture for a minute.)

    *non sequitur and offtopic alert: I adored Cpl. Lebeow(sp?) in Hogan's Hero's*

    P.S. Firefox spell check has some interesting alternatives for Lebeow!!!

    --
    Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
  2. wrong sense of decency by nguy · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    It's a matter of common decency, not just law. I hate it when people talk as though the law is the only thing we should pay any attention to.

    In many countries, I have a legal right to take your picture if you are in a public place, and I also have the right to publish your picture, even against your consent (with some well-defined exceptions, like I can't maliciously and for no reason embarrass you).

    I will defend that right. And even in countries where the law may attempt to restrict that right, I may deliberately ignore that law if I think it is the right thing to do, because the freedom to record and document public life and public events is one of the essential freedoms in a democracy.

  3. Jurisdiction ? by canuck57 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    The title implies that american law should prevail everywhere! No! France is not a US colony.

    Actually, I find this humorous. French law being applied to an American satellite, in orbit in space, to an American company with pictures of France being sent to servers on American soil.

    Does France even have jurisdiction? I don't think so. All Google has to do is not put them on servers in France. The rest is French chest puffing.

    I submit that France has no jurisdiction here at all.