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Street View = Legal Action
Privacy concerns continue to dog the exceedingly innovative and increasingly controversial search engine company Google. Up next on the target list of privacy advocates is Googles Street View. Available now in 27 US cities, "Street View allows users to...view a 360-degree photographic panorama of the buildings, roads and unfortunate passers-by caught in the eye of Google's vans." Each of Googles Street View vans "has a roof camera, and photos...are stitched together to produce a 360-degree image." Live video footage may eventually be possible.
Meanwhile, Privacy International (PI) is threatening to sue Google if they begin their picture-taking operations in the UK. PI was created to act "as a watchdog on surveillance and privacy invasions by governments and corporations." The UK-based NGO with an office in Washington, DC campaigns "across the world to protect people against intrusion by governments and corporations that seek to erode this fragile right. We believe that privacy forms part of the bedrock of freedoms...."
As voyeurs and others search "the site for the newest and most bizarre stills caught by Google's roving photographers, hundreds of Americans have complained, seeking to have more than just their faces removed." Images captured and made public by Street View so far have included a "man entering an adult video store...two women sunbathing in their front garden at Stanford University" and "a girl bending over the front seat of her van to reveal a black thong."
Whether Googles Street View may open the company to potential liability is unknown. Whether Google will need the services of many expensive lawyers, however, seems quite likely.
See Privacy International website
See Guardian article
See Google Street View website
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Sun Microsystems Selected to Support Northrop in Development of NHIN
"Sun Microsystems, Inc., the creator and leading advocate of Java(TM) technology, announced today that it will support a consortium led by Northrop Grumman Corporation to help in the development of a prototype for a nationwide health-information network architecture.
HHS Selects Cisco to Help Develop NHIN
"Cisco today announced that it was selected by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department [HHS] to work with other technology firms to develop prototypes for a Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) architecture.
Government to Release Contracts to Test NHIN
"The federal government on Thursday plans to issue long-awaited contracts to test the architecture for a nationwide health information network, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology David Brailer, MD, announced today.
Health IT Panel Urges Patient E-Authentication Standards
"The federal government should develop a nationwide patient authentication standard that protects individuals information, and provide financial incentives to providers to foster the adoption of health IT, according to the federally chartered Commission on Systemic Interoperability.
Additional News
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Privacy More Complex Than It Appears
Several of the world's leading technology companies have teamed up to promote consideration of consumer privacy. Google, Oracle, Microsoft, Intel and other major companies have established the Consumer Privacy Legislative Forum (CPL Forum) to support discussion of "comprehensive harmonized federal privacy legislation to create a simplified, uniform but flexible legal framework."
The CPL Forum initiative raises complex issues regarding both federal preemption of state privacy protection laws and permissible business use of consumer-generated data.
A statement issued by the CPL Forum explained that because a national standard would preempt State privacy laws, "a robust framework is warranted." A senior legal official with Google stated that the "uneven patchwork" of state consumer privacy laws can be counterproductive, "when you have so many laws all with the same aim but with different definitions, companies aren't able to create protection in a uniform way."
However, a senior official with the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) said "state governments have been more responsive than Congress in safeguarding consumer privacy." EPIC also said that they "welcome the participation of industry in the discussion, but it can't simply be an exercise in public relations."
The CPL Forum noted that the privacy legislation they support would "also enable legitimate businesses to use information to promote economic and social value." A senior official with the Progress & Freedom Foundation said that regulation of consumer information would have "unintended" consequences "especially when imposed on a medium like the Internet that is changing so rapidly."
Balancing the often conflicting interests of various stakeholders is no easy task. The CPL Forum is poised to make an important contribution to the debate.
Click for Consumer Privacy Legislative Forum Statement
Firms Seek Privacy Rules.pdf
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