Google: "No Trespassing" Doesn’t Mean "No Street View"

• Author: admin
• Filed under: Tech News
• Date: Aug 26,2008

As reported by the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, a Google Street View driver passed two “no trespassing” signs to collect pictures images of a residence 1,200 feet from a county road, putting Street View right in the cross-hairs in another privacy dust-up. Still, considering past statements by Google, it’s strange anyone is surprised by this.

After all, in response to a lawsuit by a Allegheny County couple over Street View photos (above) taken despite a “private road” sign, Google said (emphasis mine):

“Today’s satellite-image technology means that even in today’s desert, complete privacy does not exist. In any event, plaintiffs live far from the desert and are far from hermits.

According to the newspaper, however, Google hasn’t just driven on a few private roads; it’s taken pictures of more than 100 private roads, in Sonoma County in Northern California.

Google spokesman Larry Yu said: “Our policy is to not drive on private land,” and that Google tries to hire local drivers, who are given specific routes to follow.

Oops to that, though. An anonymous Street View driver said he was simply told to drive around Sonoma County and collect images. After hearing of that statement, Yu retracted his.

While it is relatively simple to remove Street View pictures (assuming you even know they exist, see below), it seems to me that a “Private Road” or “No Trespassing” sign is an opt-out statement, just one not done with a browser mouse click.

Still, Google disagrees, and it may be up to the courts to decide, as in the lawsuit above.

As far as removing a picture from Street View, go to Street View Help, click a link, and select “This image infringes on my privacy” or another option.