Japan follows America and UK in attacking Google Street View

Google Street View has been a controversial if otherwise brilliant service since it was launched in May, 2007. Some American citizens have already complained about the loss of privacy, closely followed by the British, and now it’s the turn of the Japanese to go after the search giant for taking pictures of unsuspecting bystanders.

I love the idea of Google Street View. Whoever came up with the concept deserves an award for innovation and a big raise in pay. How cool is it to be able to zoom in on Google Maps so precisely that you can see what that city looks like at street level? Unfortunately, the positives comes hand in hand with some very big negatives.

As the Google Street View cars trundle around the world’s biggest cities snapping pictures from all angles, it isn’t just landmarks and buildings being captured. There are also people, events, and identifiable items such as car registration plates being photoed and uploaded for viewing by anyone on the Web.

Google Street View first launched in America (naturally) and most U.S. citizens focused on the positive, not worrying about the possible privacy infringements. But one town in Minnesota did call foul and consequently banned Google from coming anywhere near it. Then the was the unfortunately named couple of Mr and Mrs Boring who sued Google for invasion of privacy.

Then Google invaded Europe and privacy rights groups asked for clarification over the legality of what Street View was doing. Although the Information Commissioner’s Office backed Google wholeheartedly, there are still many people in the UK unhappy with the idea of their privacy being invaded.

And now it’s Japan’s turn. According to Ars Technica, a group calling itself the Campaign Against a Surveillance Society has claimed Google Street View “constitutes violent infringement on citizens.” The group isn’t a bunch of hippies or weirdos, but is instead made up of journalists, professors and lawyers.

The group’s complaint may seem harsh but when looked at in the cold light of day certainly seems to have some merit. The fact is that Japan is a more secretive and privacy-loving nation than most and local communities haven’t taken kindly to seeing their little piece of heaven plastered all over the Web for all and sundry to view.

However, findings seem to have shown that Google Street View isn’t violating anyone’s privacy thanks to the checks and balances in place. While America and Britain have so far failed to stop the Google bandwagon from rolling, could the Japanese have any more luck?

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• Google Street View – Banned in Greece, cut down to size in Japan
• Switzerland bans Google Street View over privacy concerns
• Google stands up to EU on Street View
• Google responds to Google Maps Street View privacy concerns in Europe
• Google faces Street View ban in the UK – Does it violate privacy law?