Canada Stands Up to Google
Google Maps’ Street View feature has caused some buzz since its debut in May. Much of the buzz has been negative, with countless publications and Web sites finding bizarre and disturbingly private images available on Street View. Privacy advocates have voiced their disapproval, but this has not stopped Google from expanding their Street View efforts.
However, the search giant may have found a roadblock in Canada, which seems to be firmly against Google’s picture taking on their streets.
Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner in Canada, asked Google for more details on Street View in August, and has indicated that if the venture is not altered, it would violate Canada’s personal information protection act, which was passed in 2004.
“The images … appear to have been collected largely without the consent and knowledge of the individuals who appear in the images,” said Stoddart. Though it is legal for businesses to reveal personal information with the person’s consent, the Street View images are clear enough to stir some concern.
“I am concerned that, if the Street View application were deployed in Canada, it might not comply with our federal privacy legislation,” she added.
“From our point of view, if you spot yourself and you perceive that as a violation of your privacy rights, then the act has already been violated,” said Stoddart’s spokesman, Colin McKay.
Though Stoddart has not given Google or Immersive Media (a Canadian firm that has taken similar street-level pictures in large Canadian cities) any deadlines for compliance, but if Google went ahead with the unveiling of its Canadian Street View images she could launch an official investigation.
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