Newer Zealand

Yesterday, Google New Zealand Blog announced that the Kiwi Street View imagery is scheduled for an update, this time with higher resolution photographs such as those in Europe and Canada. Also, face-blurring technology is planned to be implemented.

The first region to get the new photographs is Auckland, starting this week. So for those of you in New Zealand, as the National Business Review says, "Brush your hair and avoid massage parlours."

Cute Google Animation

This video was recently released by the folks at Google Japan to show how the Street View process works.

Swiss Watchdog

Yesterday, a data protection "watchdog" officer in Switzerland told Google to immediately remove Swiss Street View coverage from the Internet, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The group claims that Google did not follow the privacy conditions they apparently agreed to.

Actually, the only problem with the coverage is that some faces and license plates have not been blurred. Hopefully, Google will repair this imagery soon.

Suspects Sighted with Street View

This has been all over the Internet. I usually don't post popular Street View news like this, but it's a slow Street View week.

Tons of News

Sorry for the delay; I try not to blog on Sundays.

Changing the Rules: To appease the strict privacy rules of the European Union, Google has agreed to stop holding the original (non-blurred, non-edited) Street View video files. However, this would mean there is more chance for error in the pictures, and these errors are nearly impossible to fix. Be prepared for thousands of coverage gaps in the middle of European streets. Read more here.

Google Trike Update: Two main new locations were added from Google Trike imagery this week: Disneyland Paris and a bicycle trail in Monterey, California. Read more here and here.

Jittery Japanese II

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Looks like the Japanese are complaining again.

According to BBC NEWS, Google is planning to drive through the streets of Japan again. This time, the cameras will be forty centimeters lower than they were before so they can "respect the privacy of homeowners."

In Japan, buildings and homes are built closer to the street than in other nations, so Google has been apparently capturing some interesting views of people's everyday (or not) lives.

Note: Google was not forced to retake their photos; they are doing this as a favor to the citizens of Japan.

όχι!

The Hellenic Republic has told Google to postpone sending their Street View camera cars to Greek roads until they can assure the government that it does not violate the strict privacy laws of Greece in any way. USA TODAY reports that this decision was made on May 11th by the Data Protection Authority of Greece.

The Hellenic Data Protection Authority stated that "simply marking the car" is not a good enough method of notifying Greece of the presence of Google cars roaming the nation.

The Authority has also halted kapou.gr until it uses more privacy features like face-blurring, which Google Street View already provides.

This Greek order could set the standard for many other possible Street View-covered nations in the future. However, Germany and Switzerland have already laid down the law in front of Google before. Germany seems to be allowing the images soon, but Switzerland has not made any such promises yet, as far as we know.

Privacy issues haven't been a challenge for Google in the past, and this new Greek stuff is unlikely to become a problem for them.

Avoiding the Rush

According to The Earth Times, Google Germany has agreed to let Germans censor their Street View imagery before it is released onto Google Maps and Earth. This is an excellent decision, for it will help Google avoid as many privacy-invasion outbursts as possible from this nation.

Previously, Google had taken pictures of cities in northwest Germany, but they, along with Switzerland, prevented Google from releasing them online. Now it looks like Google's ready to continue. I wonder what will happen in Switzerland?

Oz Online!

Earlier today, Google released Street View imagery for the Land of Oz. All five Ozzian countries and districts have been covered:

1. East Oz
   
2. Emerald District
3. North Oz
4. South Oz
5. West Oz*

*There is little coverage in West Oz; it ends about one mile before the castle.

As with most previous releases, some citizens have made complaints about the service. According to QuadlingWeekly.oz, a Munchkin couple has filed a lawsuit against Google for taking photographs of their farm, even though the only available coverage was a scarecrow whose face was blurred.

In Emerald City, one citizen complained to a member of the royal guard about the Google van's illegal black color. The wizard has not made any comments about this issue.

This release was quite a surprise, not only because there were no major Google car sightings, but also because of the dangerous methods of getting into the country. Google, you've done it again!

Please Don't Put My Planet on the Internet

Joal Anderson is a legislator from California. He must have heard one of the following false statements:

• Google Earth is a crime tool.
• Google Earth is a threat to security.
• Blurring Google Earth imagery and Street View imagery will save us.

Because that's exactly what he's proposing with Assembly Bill 255, according to Macworld.

If passed, not only would many buildings have to be blurred out in Google Earth, the same would have to be done with Google's Street View feature.

Exciting Results of Boring Lawsuit

You may have heard about the lawsuit on Google by Aaron and Christina Boring. You can read more about it here and here.

Well, the results have been talked about all over the Internet: Google won! Again! Actually, the case was dismissed by a federal court judge.

The images are still taken down for privacy, but Street View is still available to us on Google Maps and Google Earth. Hopefully, this feature will still be here in the future.

Pete's Privacy

According to The Boston Globe, a man named Peter Funt is concerned about Google Street View invading his privacy. This is not unusual, but there really is nothing to worry about with Google Street View, for many reasons that have been listed before.

Today, another Globe article talks about Peter Funt's concern that burglars could find his home's open window on the second floor and take it as an invitation to come rob his house. Hey, Peter? How about just locking the window?

Lately, Google released a new service called Latitude, which you can use to track your friends' locations with your phones. Mr. Funt calls the service "eavesdropping". As pointed out by the Globe's Michael Sierra, Latitude is an "opt-in" service, which is not eavesdropping. Thank you, Mr. Sierra.

Street View Saves the Day

According to the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, a girl is no longer missing thanks to some Internet technology.

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Here's the story: Natalie Maltais, a nine-year-old resident of Ahtol, Massachusetts, was reported missing. Todd Neale, a police officer, decided to use some Internet technology to find Natalie's location. Here is how the technology was used:

cell phone GPS: dialed the number and tracked her cell phone

Google: searched for location, Natural Bridge, Virginia

Google Street View: found a view of the area, and found a Budget Inn that looked interesting

Google Earth imagery: used Google's satellite imagery to find the hotel

After many clues, Officer Neale guessed that Natalie was in the hotel. After some searching there, she was found.

Natalie will be with her family soon. Thank you, Street View!

Jittery Japanese

According to Reuters, an educated Japanese group, the Campaign Against Surveillance Society, wants all of Google's Japanese Street View imagery to be completely removed.

Their reasoning, said by Yasuhiko Tajima:

We strongly suspect that what Google has been doing deeply violates a basic right that humans have.

In other words:

We [believe] that [taking pictures] deeply violates [our privacy].

Doesn't this sound familiar? They have nothing to worry about; Google has been working hard to espect people's privacy. ;-)

All Over America

After the latest "Update Tuesday", which was enormous, some news websites all over America are kind of, well, freaking out. Here are some articles from all over the Land of the Brave (or not so brave).

• Birmingham, Alabama - Google adds Alabama to online street view mapping
• Great Falls, Montana - Google's Street View now covers Montana
• North Carolina - What does YOUR street look like?
• Charleston, South Carolina - Google Street View finally comes to Chaleston
• Texas - Google's Street View is Here!

Panorama Paranoia IV

Check out this EPR press release. I think I've summarized this privacy stuff enough in previous posts. ;-)

• Panorama Paranoia
• Panorama Paranoia II
• Panorama Paranoia III

Panorama Paranoia III

KTEN Channel 10 reports that StopInternetPredators.org is at it again. This time, supporter Stacey Rumenap has given her ideas to Sherman, Texas, and Ada, Oklahoma.

A new phrase has emerged from this. Check out these quotes from the article:

[Stacey Rumenap is] battling Google because she believes [Street View] is a threat to children.

She's not battling Google at all. She sent an email to Google, asking for the release date of Street View in the Sherman-Ada region, and Google spokesperson Elaine Fliadelfo responded with a note saying that they had "no timeline to share". Then comes this quote from the article:

Before it gets here, maybe Stop Internet Predators.org will win its battle with Google.

What battle? SIP has done nothing except try to convince parents to do what already can be done: requesting Google to remove certain pictures they are uncomfortable with.

As I've written in many other posts, there is absolutely nothing to worry about with Street View.

Google Street View Privacy Video

Earlier this month, Google finally released the above video due to the near-overwhelming string of attacks on Google's Street View and its "invasion of privacy". Hopefully this will prevent some possible future attacks.

杉並区: A Panorama-Free Zone

image from Flags of the World

杉並区 (Suginami Ward), a suburb of Tokyo, Japan, has requested to have the Street View feature removed from Google Maps, according to Asahi Shimbun. The reason? Well, it's the same reason that North Oaks, Minnesota, wanted their images removed: privacy concerns.

It appears that Google is considering the removal of the images, and they might vanish from the map soon.

Nein!

According the the International Herald Tribune, Switzerland has stopped Google from adding Street Views to its country. If that wasn't bad enough, Germany claims that taking the photographs for Street View itself is against the law.

Releasing Street View was much easier for Google in France, Italy, and Spain, but it looks like Central Europe won't get the feature for quite a while. Google's Street View cars have been spotted all around Germany, and the country has demanded that Google delete all the information gathered.