No More Voyeurism on Google Street View
Reacting to both legal questions and, probably more accurately, a lot of its users having that old "oogie" feeling that people get from things that are bit too close for comfort, Google has begun testing face blurring technology for its Google Street View product. According to Cnet, The technology uses a computer algorithm to scour Google's image database for faces, then blurs them. There are risks. Some people will still object to having their houses or other areas that they deem "private" included (Google has already been sued by one couple in Pittsburgh, albeit based on a dubious proposition). There's also the issue of false positives that blur billboards or works of art with faces and could degrade the product. There's also the risk of missing some faces that are visible could pose privacy problems and, of course, setting an "industry standard" that could then create a negligence claim for failing to properly implement the algorithm or to properly police the site. Nevertheless, this seems like a sensible solution of it works.
