Google received another request on Friday to stop its Street View service, this time from a group of Japanese lawyers and professors who say the service violates their right to privacy.
Talking to Reuters, Yasuhiko Tajima, a professor of constitutional law at Sophia University in Tokyo, said, "We strongly suspect that what Google has been doing deeply violates a basic right that humans have. It is necessary to warn society that an IT giant is openly violating privacy rights, which are important rights that the citizens have, through this service."
Tajima heads the Campaign Against Surveillance Society, a Japanese civilian group that wants Google to stop providing its Japanese Street View service and to delete all saved images.
Launched in May 2007, the service has come under harsh criticism due to privacy issues. A feature of Google Maps and Google Earth, Street View offers a 360-degree view of the scenery alongside roads, allowing users to take a virtual walk down streets covered by the service.
Neowin reported earlier this year, on an Australian man who was captured in a drunken sleep on the grass outside his home, when one of Google's camera-mounted cars passed by. Similar cases have occurred across Japan, the United States and Europe, including one case where a man was caught exiting a strip club.
Both Google Earth and Google Maps have previously come under fire from various countries, for providing images of military bases and other sensitive areas. Google agreed in March to remove pictures of the pentagon from their map services.
21 Comments - Add comment