Google, StreetView, and Allegations in the US
May 20, 2010
A happy quack to the reader who sent me a link to TechEye.net’s “Google Sued over Snaffled Street View Data.” I am not an attorney, not a journalist, not qualified to do much more than point to this write up. According to the article,
Google has received a writ from Vicki Van Valin and Neil Mertz as part of a class action that their privacy was violated by Street View vehicles picking up data from open wireless internet connections used at home. They also want a court to prevent Google from destroying the data that’s been collected.
The article includes quite a few references to legal things. I did recognize the phrase “class action.”
Assume that the article is accurate and that the legal references in it are germane to the allegations. Here are the questions I want to capture before the slip from my goose brain:
- Are the Department of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission likely to take an interest in this matter?
- What happens if the legal eagles move the matter into court and some of the alleged “information” is deleted or otherwise unavailable?
- How will the “we’re sorry” and “we goofed” method work in the face of international and US actions related to the alleged Google StreetView data collection scope?
I don’t know, but I remember one person said in a lunch conversation, “Never ask for permission. Do it. It is easier to ask for forgiveness.”
Will this work as a method of deflecting the allegations?
Stephen E Arnold, May 20, 2010
Freebie.
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