p2pnet news view | Advertising:- Mega advertising company Google, Master of Universal Spin, figures its okay for it to take pictures of your house and show them online without your approval.

But many Canadians, and others around the world, are strenuously objecting.

Called Street View, the visual invasion is all part of one of Google’s latest advertising hooks.

Under it, cars tour the streets of the world, uninvited and snapping panoramic views of houses thereon for universal display without permission.

But, “Firms engaged in this kind of activity, “have to let citizens know that they are going to be photographing the streets of their city, when this will happen, why and how they can have their image removed if they don`t want it in a database,” p2pnet recently quoted the office of privacy commissioner of Canada Jennifer Stoddart as saying.

Her office has subsequently released Captured on Camera to, “help Canadians understand privacy issues surrounding street-level imaging applications such as Google StreetView and a similar product offered by Canpages. (html, pdf)

“Under Canadian privacy law you should know when your picture is being taken for commercial reasons, and what your image will be used for,” says her office.

But, Who cares about Canadian privacy laws? – asks Google, in effect.

“Patrick Pichette, a Google senior vice-president, says people can’t wait to see the Google car in the vast majority of places where it shows up,” according to the Canadian Press.

UK privacy regulator the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) says 74 people have written to it about Google’s Street View service since its launch last month, says Out-Law.com.

The ICO is promising to release details of the complaints and enquiries soon, says the story.

Stay tuned.

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p2pnet – Street-level imaging: ONLY BY PERMISSION, April 8, 2009
Canadian Press – Google v-p defends Street View, April 22, 2009
Out-Law.com – Information Commissioner contacted 74 times over Street View concerns, April 22, 2009