[LINK] Google StreetView Launched in Oz

[Roger Clarke]

Ah, Stil the provocateur.  Okay, I'll bite.

At 10:30 +1000 5/8/08, Stilgherrian wrote:
>I'm going to ask the question: Exactly how is a photograph of a house
>on a street an invasion of privacy, when it isn't linked to any
>individual?
>The house is a visible, physical object that anyone can walk past and
>photograph. The address of the house is, again, a known fact. Anyone
>could already do that and, indeed, post the photo online with a
>description. Real estate agents do it all the time. All Google has
>done is photographed "everywhere" all at once, and shown us all the
>results.
>If we're worried about the facts of WHO lives in that house, well,
>that data is already available all over the place.
>Why don't we just start USING these tools for our benefit?

The following is indicative of the approach the APF is taking. 
(Several Board members have been actively engaged in the print, radio 
and TV media, particularly over the last 24 hours).

StreetView's got a lot of potential benefits, and lots of us will 
want to use it.

There's also a bunch of risks:
-   to people's safety (e.g. being found by people who don't like you)
-   to building security (e.g. facilitating break-in and escape)
-   to personal privacy (as little as 'just being seen'.  An instance:
     A captain of industry would be embarrassed to be found helping out
     in a soup-kitchen, because his mates would give him hell.  If you can
     construct a legitimate public interest in his volunteer work in a
     soup-kitchen being public knowledge, please explain it to me)

Just to be abundantly clear about this:  privacy is an issue in all 
places and spaces, not just private ones.

Some behaviour in public places clearly voids privacy expectations 
(in particular, attention-drawing activities such as violence, 
talking loudly and maybe even making love - which, paradoxically, is 
probably illegal).

But there are many circumstances in which legitimate expectations 
exist of privacy in public places.  A celeb or notoriety doesn't have 
zero privacy just because they walk down a street or across a public 
park.

Google have said to us that they were going to address these 
problems.  Some specifics follow.

Blurring of faces is important, and so is blurring of number-plates. 
(Otherwise there are risks of people being recognised.  In some 
cases, that's a safety issue.  In many others, the risk is of 
unjustifiable embarrassment about where they were, about what they 
appear to have been doing, or just 'cos - many people do *not* 
subscribe to the self-exposure fashion of the last few years).

The photos must not be too high-res.
(Because otherwise everyone would be seeing inside windows, deep into 
garages, and down to the bottom of driveways, and the images would be 
capable of being blown up by, for example, voyeurs and people with 
criminal intent).

Successive photos should be some distance apart.
(Because otherwise it's too easy for crooks to generate accurate 3D 
images of buildings they're interested in getting into and out of 
surreptitiously).

(There are a few other aspects, but that'll do for now).

We understand from our conversations with Google Australia that those 
issues have been addressed.  And that's *good*.

But there are some gaps that we're still quite concerned about.

You can report an image that gives rise to security, safety or 
privacy concerns.  But it's not easy enough to find out where you go 
to do the reporting.

Most crucially, Google have failed to provide clear public 
undertakings about the service.

There's no privacy policy statement that relates to the Maps and 
StreetView.  The links that do exist, if you can find them, point to 
vague generalities.

Google needs to publish clear and unequivocal undertakings, and make 
them readily findable.

We've suggested to them that a proper Privacy Impact Assessment 
process would make it much easier for them to make sure they comply 
with both the law and with public expectations.


-- 
Roger Clarke                  http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
                    Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in Info Science & Eng  Australian National University
Visiting Professor in the eCommerce Program      University of Hong Kong
Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre      Uni of NSW