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Google Says Complete Privacy Does Not Exist

Posted by samzenpus on from the open-books dept.

schliz writes "In a submission to court, Google is arguing that in the modern world there can be no expectation of privacy. Google is being sued by a Pennsylvania couple after their home appeared on Google's Street View pages. The couple's house is on a private road clearly marked as private property." Here is our previous story about Google Street View privacy issues.

6 of 543 comments (clear)

  1. Perhaps they should photograph around by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    military installations, the CIA, the NSA, and other sensitive areas- just to see if there really is no privacy in the US.

  2. more or less true, but . . . by cashman73 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Google is more or less correct. If people really want "true privacy" in today's world, then they really have to never leave their house, never access the internet, never buy anything with a credit card or debit card, and don't forget your tinfoil hat. However, knowing a little bit more about this case, if the property owners in question did have a 'private property' sign up in front of the road that Google went down, then they did trespass onto their property to take the photos. If that's true, then this case is closed. Plain and simple. You don't need any fancy shmancy explanations and definitions of "privacy" here. If there was no sign, then Google did nothing wrong.

  3. This is what starts to happen... by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is what starts to happen when people don't bother to protect their privacy: the notion of privacy itself starts to vanish. If this argument flies, privacy will become a thing of the past, and people who to protect their own privacy will just be labeled as "paranoid weirdos."

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    Palm trees and 8
    1. Re:This is what starts to happen... by Tim+C · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm not sure that the right to roam gives you quite as much freedom as you think it does - I can't spend long researching it, but google searches suggest that it applies to open countryside. You most certainly do not have the right to roam on to my driveway, for example, which is clearly private property.

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      It's official. Most of you are morons.
  4. Re:Satellite Images by Threni · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > There's a big difference in the detail available in most sat photos versus Street View. It'll be interesting to see what gets considered private
    > or public. Currently, it seems it's okay if you can tell I have a black car but not that my front door's red.

    So what happens once satellite photos are the same quality as photos taken from a few metres away?

  5. Re:Fences, Gates and Guards.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Its a principle you idiot. If everyone just accept that google invades their privacy, google will just continue.