Hackszine.com: Removing yourself from Street View

Removing yourself from Street View

Threat Level recently ran a story about Kevin Bankston, the EFF attorney who decided to test the take-down procedure for privacy-infringing photos within Google's Street View. Initially, Google required a wealth of information before removing the photo, but they changed their policy, requiring only your name and the location the image was taken. Kevin submitted the information, and the photo was promptly taken down.

If you've found an image of yourself cruising around town when you were supposed to be at home with a fever, here's what you do:

View the privacy-infringing image in Street View
Click the "Street View Help" link
Click the "report inappropriate image" link and fill out the details

Presumably, once you've done this, Google will contact you via email and you'll have to reply with your name and a confirmation that you're the person in the image.

Here's the rub, though: if someone else already caught you playing hooky, there's no point in removing the image anymore. Effectively, you'll need to find any compromising images before anyone else does.

There's also a second problem. You may need to report more than one image. Kevin may have had his reported image removed from the database, but I found him again just up the street.

Want Off Street View? Details and discussion at Threat Level - Link

Posted by Jason Striegel | Jun 17, 2007 09:05 PM
Google Maps | Permalink | Comments (4)

Comments

Newest comments listed first.

Posted by: aplumb on June 18, 2007 at 12:06 PM

Something to try. Get a reversible chroma-green/blue colored cap, bag, other accessories and wear them everywhere. Algorithmically manipulate the data-stream to taste.

Posted by: jakemikey on June 18, 2007 at 10:55 PM

Where's the legal basis for this? As far as I know, if you're in public, you're fair game - anyone can take pictures of you. Besides - isn't citing 'invasion of privacy' a little ridiculous when you're in *public*?

Posted by: tms10000 on June 19, 2007 at 9:16 AM

Yes Jakemikey, I had the same thought, but considering that

1) The google street view's project intent is to provide pictures of the streets, being caught in that Net is some sort of collateral damage. Even though it is "fair game", people can get miffed easily. Especially given the size of Google and the publicity around it. I never heard any complain when a9 did it (Who? What? Exactly)

2) Knowing google infinite resource, the streetview will probably extend to milimeter precision photography of the earth, and it is very close to broad hwolesale surveillance. This is very much a concern again. This is the same objections raised against automatic cameras reading license plates of passing cars. Yes, you are in public with your car, no it's not ok to log people's whereabouts in a bulk, automated, unattended fashion.

Personally, I'd say Google should run their database through a face detection system and automatically blur faces. If my digicam can do that, I'm sure Google can.

Posted by: Don Ror on December 15, 2007 at 6:45 AM

If my home is burglarized, I will sue Google for $10,000,000 and let the jury decided the amount.

Sick of this Google invasion of privacy and assistance to criminals.

We have enough of this scum from Mexico burglarizing homes in Mexas.