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Google’s “Street View” not only made the Pentagon say its images
pose a threat to national security, now a couple in western Pennsylvania seems
to think that it violates their privacy. Aaron and Christine Boring filed a
lawsuit against Google in Allegheny County’s Court of Common Pleas, and states
that the Borings initially made the decision to buy the house (for $163,000) in
a desire for privacy.
According to the lawsuit, not
only did Google’s images violated their privacy, but also caused them distress
and devalued their property, alleging that Google took the pictures from what
was labeled as “private property” judging by the image detail.
Street View is a feature Google
added to Google maps in 2007, which provides panoramic views in cities across
the United States from ground level. For the time being, the service functions
only in the U.S. but is expected to go outside the country as well.
For more detailed photos, Google
sends its vehicles equipped with digital cameras that take pictures around
major streets in the cities included in “Street View” and if most of us would
probably like to see we’re “on the map,” it seems like not everyone feels the
same way.
Google spokesman Larry Yu said
that anyone can get Google to remove the images if they have a good
reason to back up their request, the Associated Press reports, adding that: “We
absolutely respect that people may not be comfortable with some of the imagery
on the site,” said Yu. “We actually make it pretty easy for people to submit a
request to us to remove the imagery.”
But that is not what the Borings’
lawyer seems to think, as they chose for litigation instead of a simple request,
saying it was an invasion of privacy (although the couple’s house appears not
just on Google “Street View”) and the company should be stopped from doing similar
things in the future.
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