Street View

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Coming to Google Street View: Galapagos Islands

Google captures panoramic views of remote and inaccessible areas

(Newser) - If you've ever wished you could visit the Galapagos Islands, you'll soon get the chance to see the remote volcanic islands from the comfort of your own home. Google sent hikers to the area complete with Street View gear to capture panoramic views of even the most inaccessible...

Tax Dodgers Nabbed Using ... Google Street View

Some 100 Lithuanian homeowners, 30 construction companies identified

(Newser) - As soon as Google Maps Street View was rolled out in Lithuania earlier this year, tax authorities were ready. Sitting in the comfort of their own offices, inspectors used the free Internet program for a virtual cruise around the streets of some of the Baltic country's big cities, uncovering...

Google Fined $7M for Street View Snooping

Settlement includes privacy lessons for employees

(Newser) - Google has coughed up $7 million—about an hour's revenue for the search giant—to settle a probe into its Street View cars' unauthorized collection of huge amounts of personal data. As part of the settlement with 38 states and the District of Columbia, Google has also agreed to...

'Know-It-All' Street View Engineer Identified

Googler who knew data was snatched is outed

(Newser) - The noose appears to be tightening around Google. Federal sources have now identified the Google engineer who knew —and informed co-workers and a boss—that Street View cars were snatching unencrypted personal data from potentially millions of household wireless networks over three years, according to government investigators. Google execs...

Google Knew Street View Was Snatching Data: FCC

Engineer told manager exactly what was happening, says report

(Newser) - The fact that Google's Street View operation was snatching citizens' personal data from the air shouldn't have come as a surprise to company execs—because their own engineer told them it was happening, according to a new federal report. Google has maintained all along that secret collection of...

Google Fined $25K for Stalling Street View Probe

Company refused to cooperate with investigation: FCC

(Newser) - The Federal Communications Commission was sympathetic in 2010 when Google said it was really, really sorry its street map vehicles accidentally picked up people's personal information from their wireless home networks. Two years later, however, the FCC is exasperated by Google's lack of cooperation with a probe into...

Far-Flung Amazon Village Hitting Google Street View

Brazilian villagers had never heard of Google before

(Newser) - Google's effort to extend Street View to places well off the beaten track has brought it to a remote village on a tributary of the Amazon. A Google trike with nine cameras attached was sent to the remote Brazilian community of Tumbira and traveled up and down its paths...

Google: We Accidentally Grabbed Emails, Passwords

Street View privacy flap worse than reported

(Newser) - First MySpace , now Google: Apparently today is the day for Internet privacy flaps. Google, which admitted in May its roving Street View cars collected data about websites people visited on unprotected WiFi networks, admits now that the cars actually collected even more personal data—including complete emails and passwords,...

Gawker Finds God —on Google Street View

Where else?

(Newser) - Not even the almighty is safe from Google's cameras. Or so it appears, based on an image on Google Street View taken over a lake in Switzerland, notes Gawker . "Is it something on the camera lens?" asks Max Read. "Or is it maybe... God and His only begotten ...

100K Germans Opt Out of Google Street View

Country may be a little blurry when service launches

(Newser) - Planning to use Google Street View in Germany? It may not be very useful: More than 100,000 Germans have requested their homes be blurred out when Street View launches in their country this year. That number could actually be in the several hundreds of thousands, sources tell Der Spiegel...

Google Street View Nabs Dutch Thieves

Boy found photo later, alerted cops

(Newser) - The Google Street View that has infuriated many privacy advocates has helped solve a crime, the BBC reports. A Dutch boy, 14, chanced upon a months-old photo on Street View that shows him with two men right before they allegedly mugged him. Authorities retrieved the original photo from Google—the...

Google Will Censor Street View in Germany

People's personal data will be blocked by request

(Newser) - Google has bowed to German privacy concerns and will censor its Street View program to block out faces, house numbers, and license plates of people opting out of the service. The company’s panoramic mapping service has faced opposition as it expands worldwide, the AP reports. When it launches in...

Take Me Off Google Street View: McCartney

Ex-Beatle's home removed after complaint

(Newser) - Add Paul McCartney to the list of people who are freaked out by Google Street View. The Internet giant removed the former Beatle’s multimillion-dollar London abode after his security team complained, the Sun reports. “He was unsettled when he heard Google users could get a 360-degree view of...

UK Privacy Cops Won't Block Google Street View

Privacy groups overruled in favor of technology

(Newser) - Google Street View can keep capturing everyday British embarrassments, the nation’s information commission says, rejecting privacy groups that hoped the tech giant would be stopped. The agency ruled such a drastic step “disproportionate to the relatively small risk of privacy detriment.” British law allows filming from public...

British Village Chases Out Google Street View 'Spy'

Mob of wealthy villagers feared Google could help burglars case their houses

(Newser) - Google's attempt to add the scenic English village of Broughton to Street View was foiled by angry villagers, the Guardian reports. Residents, fearing that internet closeups of their homes would be an invitation to burglars, formed a human barrier to block the Google camera car after being alerted by a...

Google Removes Naked Kids From London Street View

Toddlers identifiable in controversial Street View map feature

(Newser) - As mounting privacy concerns hit Google's new Street View service in the UK, the company has removed pictures of naked children playing outdoors in London. The British government is considering launching an investigation if officials determine that Google has made other images of naked children available to internet users, reports...

Street View Catches Britons in Compromising Positions

Google removes several pictures at resident's request

(Newser) - Google has scrubbed several embarrassing photos from its Street View map feature following the rollout of the service in the UK yesterday, the Telegraph reports. Google received numerous complaints about certain snapshots, including one of a man leaving a sex shop. Google noted that Street View has tools for the...

Google Street View Launched in UK

23K miles of British roads captured on 3D maps

(Newser) - Google launched its Street View service in the UK last night, allowing Brits to wander the streets of 25 cities without leaving their computers, the Guardian reports. The 3-D maps allow 360-degree views of cities from London to Edinburgh. Specially equipped cars traveled 22,639 miles of British roads over...

Google 'Geek' Proposes Via Street View

Engineer uses cameras to capture his 'Marry Me' sign

(Newser) - It was bound to happen: A Google software engineer has used the company's new Street View feature to propose. The self-described geek held up a "Marry Me, Leslie!" sign as the roving cameras covered his Silicon Valley neighborhood, the San Jose Mercury News reports. When the photos went...

Couple Seeks $25K Over Google's 'Street View'

Privacy-seeking couple claims 'mental suffering' after home appears online

(Newser) - Google gave in to the Defense Department, but can it fight a couple in Pittsburgh? Aaron and Christine Boring are seeking more than $25,000 for invasion of privacy by Google's “Street View” feature, the Smoking Gun reports. The couple says that a “major component of their purchase...

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