Data commissioner halts Google cars
Thursday 20th May 2010, 2:29PM BST.
Google's camera cars are due to visit the island soon.
ONE of the world’s biggest companies has been stopped in its tracks by a Guernsey public servant.
Internet giant Google was blocked from coming to Guernsey to take images for its Street View application by the island’s data protection commissioner.
Dr Peter Harris said the Google team’s planned visit to Guernsey was delayed because they did not ask for permission to take photos.
A specially adapted camera car owned by the world’s most popular internet search engine was due to visit the island earlier this month but the company pulled out, citing ‘operational reasons’.
Dr Harris explained that the firm had an agreement with the Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK and staff did not realise they needed a separate agreement with the authorities in Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man.
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I fail to see why they need “permission” to come over and take photos? You don’t see hordes of tourists being locked up or fined for taking a picture whilst over here!
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Poor little google didnt realise how mighty and important Guernsey is AY!
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Does this mean I now have to go round to everyones house who I might have caught in one of my photos to ask for permission to publish it? How many people actually care that a picture of their house may appear online?
No more “intrusive” than seeing your house on digimap and I dont remember them having to ask for permission?
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Can’t wait for them to come over, I’m really looking forward to getting on Street View, possibly in my pants.
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Digimap is far worse, you can view the whole property. I worked for a company that had it once it was an office must do to check out the fit bird sunbathing on her patio at the back of her house.
With google, you only see what can be seen from the public highway.
Lot of fuss about nothing, possibly initiated by someone who may have something to lose by free mapping becoming available.
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Call me a luddite – but what is Street View actually for?
OK, good to have Google maps and Google Earth has a purpose, but why does anyone need to know what a street looks like?
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Will they be a sending a google tractor or a
google horse and carriage to Sark soon?
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Good old civil servants. Guernsey will be the only place in the UK that cannot use the Google satellite navigation system. As Google are the only company to offer this for Guernsey, it looks like us donkeys and visitors alike we will have remain in the dark ages and continue to navigate by whatever means available “A”. Wake up and smell the coffee for once…
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At least Google only show a picture/s of the road and general street view on Google earth so it’s only good for nosey parkers or those that might like to “look around” a place before they visit be they tourists or burglars!!
Digimap on the other hand take aerial photos in some detail and the information gleaned from them can be used by all sorts of people from estate agents to the environment dept. (just in case anyone has anything they shouldn’t in their back garden)and also by the Cadastre dept. to set your trp.
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Shame they couldn’t come over a week or 2 ago, while everyone had the liberation bunting out.
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Gemma, you’ll probably find they will have the liberation bunting etc anyway. By the time outside experts[obviously at huge costs] have been bought in to discuss whether Guernsey needs the google car over etc etc, then more debates take place over several months, then another expert will be bought over for a second opinion. Once they are finished it should be just in time for 2015 liberation celebration!!!
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Real reason it was stopped was there was too many roads closed!!!
From a marketing perspective…we look better in the Summer with our shorts, t-shirts, blue skies and flash yachts in the marina.
I am doing the ITEX walk so I will take lots of photo’s and video and send it to Google
Digimap is concerning…no more naked trampolining for me!!!
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Some of you miss the point. It was known that the Google car was collecting more than just images. Network data etc from unsecured wifi spots and domestic networks.
Part of the Commissioner’s remit is to ensure the correct use of personal data; he was right to deny permission until the issue had been addressed.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/may/20/information-commissioner-war-google
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@Neil: but Google were only collecting limited information from open, unsecured wireless networks… if people are that bothered about what little information they were collecting, then secure your wireless network using whatever encryption is available on your wireless router; which you should always do anyway, not just because the Google car is coming
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Is the visit just postponed or has it been cancelled completely?
Google street view coverage of Guernsey would be nice but it would be far better it Google carried out full satellite imaging of Guernsey. Currently you can only view Guernsey satellite images from a very high altitude which do not provide detail so you cannot view individual property photos.
I understand Google have purchased map data from Digimap.
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Random
You are righout unsecured networks, but not everyone is as savvy as you. Just because I stupidly leave my diary in a public place it doesn’t really give anyone the right to photo copy it.
Google claims to have accidentally collected some forms of data. Companies like Google don’t accidentally do anything.
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If some stranger was taking a photo of my property with a 300mm zoom lens, I would go out and give them a walloping! It’s invading personal space, and shouldn’t be allowed. It can also be used to target particular homes for robbery, ways of access etc.
If you don’t want your house photographed, get a commercial printer to print a huge BING logo, or another of Google’s competition.
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The only data from your wireless router that they collect, is the name of the router along side the BSID, this being broadcast for the duration the router is on, and can be disabled in the routers configuration, it is not using your internet access, or looking at anything personal. They couple this with GPRS so someones GPS could say “Hey, this router is telling me it’s here, and google maps says this router is located at X,Y… so I must be within 20meters of “here”. However, the person with the GPS will not be told “HEY BUDDY THIS ROUTER IS CALLED “thesmiths” AND IS OWNED BY THE SMITHS AND YOU ARE AT THEIR HOUSE BUDDY!!” this information will be witheld for the code only.
The cameras on goggle street view cars, are poor quality deliberately, to save on bandwidth and insure privacy.
I presume they are using very wide lenses, and not looking at the magazines on your coffee table by any stretch.
BUT, if you REALLY don’t want your house to be seen by the general public, you were stupid enough to buy on a main road with hundreds of people passing every day and not care about it then.
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Neil Inder is right, these thing should be regulated properly. Get it right in the first place instead of complaining when it’s to late.
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I would hazer a guess that.. Goole will not be allowed to send the car over usless they pay Digimap a great big fat fee.. as they have the copy rights for all photo maping of the Island
Don’t be fooled in to thinking they want to protect our privacy ????…
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I am sick to death of Guernsey living in the dark ages, no new buildings, no street view, no roadside recycling. It is so frustrating. Promote Guernsey for the beauty it has, if you dont want Google to see who you are put a password on your router! If you dont know how to do it, read the instructions!
In the same week i see Guernsey is going to spend lots of money on tourism we are turning away a freebie that could potentially bring us hundreds of tourists a year!
Grrrrrrr
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Neil
Data from insecure wireless networks is *broadcast* to the surrounding area. If you’re broadcasting data with no security you can hardly complain if its received by someone on public property.
The better analogy is that they hear you in public shouting out the events of your diary.
If you care enough about your privacy that this is an issue for you then you shouldn’t be insecurely broadcasting this data.
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dan,
You’re missing a subtle distinction here. The data being sent over wireless networks are designated as being intended for a specific recipient, even if they are not encrypted. The contents are implicitly as private as a letter in an envelope.
There is also a world of difference between happening upon someone’s private exchanges on the one hand, and systematically and indiscriminately gathering and storing them on the other.
Google has admitted as much (see the link Neil gave earlier) so it really is beyond dispute.
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Bit ironic, considering not so long ago the Press was publishing on its front page photos of people’s homes and labelling (libelling?) them as ‘eyesores’….at least Google does not insult individual’s property….
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What on (Google) earth is all the fuss about. Most of us gave up our privacy many years ago – the first time we ordered that sofa, browsed holidays, bought anything on the net. Every time we chuck away a flight boarding card we are giving away our identity; the list is endless. There is a whole culture of undesirable IT hackers at work out there. Google Earth should be the least of our concerns.
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i gotta agree whith Bart. google is the perfect way of promoting this rock. let them do it.
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I can’t wait… I’ll be sat outside the Rockmount with my pint :)
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