With the arrival of Google Street View in Australia, concerns have been raised concerning potential transgressions of people's privacy.Commenting on Street View's move into the country, David Vaile, executive director of the University of New South Wales' Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre, expressed his hope that Google is transparent in its attempts to protect privacy, NEWS.com.au reports.
He stated: "The gold standard for something like this would be [a] public privacy impact assessment ... coupled with a commitment to comply fully with Australian law and legal protections, without seeking to use [its] corporate structure to escape through jurisdictional tricks."
Mr Vaile also raised concerns over the potential of Street View to cause embarrassment to individuals through people being recognised by others in compromising situations.
However, Rob Shilkin, Google Australia's head of corporate communications, reassured Australians that no one's privacy would be compromised.
"We are giving very considerable thought to how best to safeguard Australian's privacy, including consulting experts and community groups, while enabling all Australians to benefit from this new feature," he stated.
Mr Shilkin added that Google is finding ways to ensure that individuals' faces and vehicle registration plates are not identifiable in pictures.
Street View also raised concerns in Canada, with the country's privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart warning that the application may run the risk of contravening Canadian privacy laws.
