Street View survives shut down demand

 

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By Dave Stevenson

Posted on 15 Apr 2009 at 11:12

The Information Commissioner's Office has rejected a complaint from Privacy International that Google's Street View service violates the Data Protection Act.

Privacy International made the claim in March, and demanded that Street View be shut down, saying that it had "created numerous instances of embarrassment and distress".

It claimed that Street View's blurring technology, which seeks to "de-identify" people by automatically seeking and blurring faces and car number plates, was a "red herring" that would not prevent people being identified by Google's camera cars.

However, in a letter to Privacy International, the ICO says that Google's blurring technology is an "adequate safeguard" to those caught on camera, and notes that it has not been contacted by anyone "concerned that a reported image has not been amended or removed".

It also claims the number of images in which Google's blurring technology has been ineffective is "relatively tiny" compared to the "tens of millions" of images published on Street View.

Unreasonable consent

It also rejected Privacy International's contention that Street View should have sought consent from every person who appears in a photograph, saying, "if consent were required by the law, then the producers of, say, Match of the Day, would have to gain the consent of all people attending televised football matches who might be caught on camera," and that "consent is just one of the grounds for processing personal data."

In the ICO's opinion, "there is no clear evidence that the community find Street View particularly harmful or insidious," although it says it will keep the service "under review."

Google Street View launched to a storm of media controversy, with the tabloids branding it a "burgler's charter" and a threat to privacy. In its complaint, Privacy International noted a case of a woman who had been moving house for "several years" to avoid a violent partner who "felt extreme distress" when a picture of her outside her home appeared on Street View.

Last week, Google's director of Google Earth and Maps, John Hankes said in an interview with The Times that Street View was "really popular and people are using it broadly and I am totally convinced that they are not all using it to plan robberies".

Privacy International could not be reached for comment.