The Arrogance of Google
To build Street View, Google sends trucks with video cameras to film stores,
streets and people's houses. One such truck drove up the driveway of a Pennsylvania
couple (the couple consider it a private road), took a bunch of shots and then
posted it all on the Internet. The couple sued for invasion of privacy.
Google's well-heeled lawyers told the court that "complete
privacy does not exist." The argument is that because technology that
compromises privacy exists, the right to privacy itself is diminished.
Of course, when CNET -- which owns news.com -- published
information about Google CEO Eric Schmidt that it found in the Internet,
Google pulled a nutty. It blacklisted CNET reporters and complained the reporter
had gone too far in, er, Googling.
If you search for "google"+"hypocrite" you get 1,640,000
results. I thought it would be more!
Do we have enough privacy from Google et al.? Send thoughts to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on July 31, 2008