Sep 13, 2011 at 2:00pm ET by Greg Sterling

Google has made what amounts to a promising downpayment on more ambitious travel search tools with its new Flight Search, debuting today. Launching initially for a select group of US cities Google users will have access to an expanded range of airline search options and a much more verticalized experience than has been available in the past on Google. This is the first product to emerge from Google's controversial acquisition of travel software company ITA, which closed in April and included concessions and guarantees to existing ITA customers such as Kayak, Microsoft, Orbitz, Hotwire and [...]

Google’s Street View Gets OK To Launch In Israel

Aug 22, 2011 at 2:23pm ET by Matt McGee

Google's Street View service is headed to the Middle East. As expected, the Israeli government has given Google a green light to begin driving through the country and placing panoramic images online. The Ministry of Justice's decision comes after months of discussion with Google about how to allow Street View in the country while still protecting concerns related to individual privacy and the bigger issue of violence/terrorism. The government offered an online poll about Street View, and 70% of respondents voted in favor of allowing Street View to launch in Israel. As Globes.co.il repor [...]

Belgium Says Google Broke Privacy Law, Offers Cash Settlement

Aug 18, 2011 at 5:19pm ET by Matt McGee

Google is considering a settlement offer from federal prosecutors in Belgium who say the company broke national privacy laws when it collected personal data from unsecured WiFi networks via its Street View vehicles. According to Bloomberg, prosecutors have offered Google a €150,000 penalty (currently about $215,000 USD) for the gaffe that Google has repeatedly said was accidental. Google has three months to accept the penalty; if it doesn't, prosecutors may take the case to court, where Google could face higher fines and perhaps even time in prison. A Google spokesperson confirmed the [...]

Report: Google Street View Collected Device Locations, Not Just WiFi Access Points

Jul 25, 2011 at 1:08pm ET by Matt McGee

Google is likely to face more privacy-related challenges on the heels of news today that the company's Street View vehicles have collected more than just the location of WiFi access points. According to a CNET article today, Google collected those WiFi access points along with the location of client devices including mobile phones and desktop computers. The cars were supposed to collect the locations of Wi-Fi access points. But Google also recorded the street addresses and unique identifiers of computers and other devices using those wireless networks and then made the data publicly avai [...]

Google Gets Chance To Appeal In Street View Lawsuit

Jul 19, 2011 at 1:26pm ET by Matt McGee

Just a couple weeks after the latest setback, Google picked up a small but potentially important victory today in its defense against charges that the company violated federal wiretap laws when its Street View cars intercepted personal data over unencrypted WiFi networks. As the San Francisco Chronicle reports, Judge James Ware has put the case on hold and given Google the go-ahead to appeal his ruling last month that kept open a group of consolidated lawsuits that accuse Google of violating the Federal Wiretap Act. In that decision, Ware dismissed a pair of claims against Google, but refus [...]

Judge Rejects Google’s Motion To Toss Out Street View Lawsuit

Jun 30, 2011 at 3:45pm ET by Matt McGee

Google is currently considering its options after a federal judge gave the go-ahead for a group of consolidated lawsuits to proceed against the company over a potential violation of the Federal Wiretap Act. Wednesday's decision by US District Judge James Ware, first reported by Wired, actually dismissed two of the three claims against Google, but left open the group's ability to sue Google for potentially violating the Wiretap Act: … the Court finds that Plaintiffs plead facts sufficient to state a claim for violation of the Wiretap Act. In particular, Plaintiffs plead that Defendant [...]

Google Street View Runs Into Indian Roadblock

Jun 21, 2011 at 8:07am ET by Greg Sterling

Google has bumped into problems with Street View in yet another country. This time it's India. According to website MediaNama, three weeks after it began driving the local police commissioner in Bangalore notified Google that it must stop photographing the city until a number of issues can be resolved. Google told the publication it had obtained police permission before commencing Street View photography. The legal questions raised by the Bangalore police revolve around the legality of "foreigners or foreign firms" doing extensive photography on the scale of Street View in India. A r [...]

Friday Fun: A Street View Car Made Of LEGOs … And It Works!

Jun 17, 2011 at 3:01pm ET by Matt McGee

From the you-knew-it-would-happen-at-some-point department: a "street view" photography car made out of LEGOs that actually works! The car/toy (frankly, I'm not sure what to call it) is the work of Mark Crosbie, a software architect based in Dublin, Ireland and self-described "big LEGO kid by night." It uses Lego's NXT (a programmable robotics system), a dGPS sensor to capture the car's coordinates, and four small cameras mounted on top. Crosbie showcased the car at the Google Zeitgeist event in London last month, and posted this video of the car in action, along with some of the actual [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Street View

Google Tiptoes Into India With Street View

May 27, 2011 at 1:12am ET by Matt McGee

Google launched Street View on Thursday in India, the second most-populous country on earth. But "launch" may be a bit of an overstatement because, in a country that's also the seventh biggest in square mileage, Google is only taking photographs in one city: Bangalore. Google announced that it's using both cars and trikes to photographs the streets of Bangalore. The city is a smart first choice: It's a tech hub that's often referred to as India's version of Silicon Valley. Presumably, many in Bangalore will be familiar with and welcoming toward Street View photography. When the Street Vi [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Outside US | Google: Street View

Google Ireland Greeting A Google Street View Car

May 25, 2011 at 5:01pm ET by Barry Schwartz

Wouldn't it be cool to know when a Google Street View car was planning on taking pictures of your office or home? Most of us do not have that luxury, but if you are Google, you are privy to that information. All of Google Ireland's staff stood outside cheering, holding signs, balloons and other items while the Google Street View car passed by and took pictures today. One Googler actually took a video of it happening today and here is that video: You'd think this was President Obama visiting. Related Stories: Cool Sights In Google Street View Dead Girl On Google Street View? [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Street View

Google Maps Vs. Bing Maps: Summer Vacation Planning Showdown

May 20, 2011 at 3:00pm ET by Matt McGee

Wouldn't it be great if there was one mapping service that offers everything you need to plan a trip to somewhere you've never been? Sure, map sites are generally pretty similar. You can see maps, find business listings, get driving directions, see images and stuff like that. But it's actually more complicated than that. At least it was for me. My wife and I recently visited Maui, Hawaii for the first time. We spent a week on the island celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary and, after getting advice from all of our family and friends, we had enough must-sees and must-dos to fill a [...]

Google Threatens To Pull Street View From Switzerland; Will Launch In Poland

May 11, 2011 at 2:07pm ET by Matt McGee

Google has appealed a recent Swiss court decision that requires the company to guarantee 100% anonymity of faces and license plates in its Street View imagery, and says it may cut the service altogether in Switzerland if the ruling isn't changed. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google attorney Peter Fleischer told reporters, "We simply cannot comply with the current terms of the court. If the ruling is not amended, we will not have any choice but to pull Google Street View services from Switzerland." Fleischer says Google will appeal the ruling to Switzerland's highest court. In [...]

Austria Ends Ban On Google Street View; Google Unmoved

Apr 25, 2011 at 8:58am ET by Matt McGee

Austrian officials have lifted an almost year-long ban on Google Street View, but Google says it has no current plans to offer the service there, anyway. According to the Austrian Independent, Austria's Data Protection Commission (DSK) announced on Thursday that it was ending the ban that started in May 2010; that's when Google admitted that its Street View cars had been accidentally collecting personal data over unsecured WiFi networks. But that doesn't mean Austrians should expect Street View to be available anytime soon: Google Austria said today it was "happy" about the DSK's dec [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Outside US | Google: Street View

Belgium Launches Investigation Of Google WiFi Data Collection

Apr 21, 2011 at 5:30pm ET by Matt McGee

While some countries have already completed their investigations, Belgium is just now launching a probe into Google's collection of Wifi data over unsecured WiFi networks. According to the Flemish newspaper De Morgen, Belgian data protection officials believe Google is guilty of a "flagrant violation of privacy protection laws." A Bloomberg report says the Belgian privacy committee passed its findings to government prosecutors because the committee doesn't have the power to fine Google. Google has previously admitted that its Street View cars accidentally collected personal data via une [...]

Dutch Agency Orders Google To Remove Data About Citizens’ WiFi Routers

Apr 19, 2011 at 3:27pm ET by Matt McGee

Dutch data officials have ordered Google to give the country's residents a way to remove data that Google has about where their WiFi routers are located. It's part of the ongoing dispute over Google's collection of personal information via unencrypted wifi networks -- something the company has said all along was accidental. According to the Associated Press, Google has already deleted the data that it collected in The Netherlands (as it's also done in some other countries). But the Dutch Data Protection Agency (DPA) says Google's knowledge and use of where those WiFi networks are located "s [...]

Google Has Stopped Street View Photography In Germany

Apr 10, 2011 at 10:15am ET by Matt McGee

In most locations, Google sends its Street View cars out on a repeated basis "to make sure the information is accurate and kept up to date," as the Street View website explains. But that's not happening in Germany. Despite the recent German court ruling that declared photography from streets legal in Germany, Google has stopped Street View photography there and says it has "no plans to launch new imagery on Street View in Germany." A Google spokesperson says the company's priorities have changed: Our business priority is to use our Google cars to collect data such as street names and [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Outside US | Google: Street View

Swiss Court Demands 100% Anonymity In Google Street View Photographs

Apr 4, 2011 at 2:19pm ET by Matt McGee

A Swiss court says Google must make sure all faces and license plates are blurred on Google Street View, even if Google has to blur them by hand. That's one of several pieces of the Swiss Federal Administrative Court decision handed down today, and the one that's likely causing the most disappointment at Google. The company's automated blurring technology blurs about 98-99% of faces and license plates, and Google recently argued that manual blurring of all Street View imagery would be prohibitively expensive. (Imagine, for example, if other countries followed suit with a similar demand [...]

German Court OKs Google Street View Imagery In “Landmark Decision”

Mar 21, 2011 at 4:38pm ET by Greg Sterling

German publication Deutsche Welle is reporting that a Berlin court has vindicated Google Street View operation in Germany. In late 2010 Street View went live in Oberstaufen, a small town in Bavaria. Subsequently it was rolled out in 20 major cities throughout Germany. Around the same time a German woman sued Google claiming that Street View images of her house violated her property and privacy rights. The court disagreed. According to Deutsche Welle the court found that photography from the street is legal in Germany and not a violation of property rights: The court ruled that it is [...]

Google Fined 100,000 Euros By French Privacy Regulator

Mar 21, 2011 at 9:23am ET by Greg Sterling

According to wire service AFP, France's data privacy regulator has imposed a EUR 100,000 ($142,000) fine to punish Google for collecting private WiFi data via Street View in France. This is the first fine/penalty any country has levied against Google over the WiFi data collection. When it first occurred, Google acknowledged the data collection but said it was unintentional and pledged to destroy all private information collected. "We screwed up," Google co-founder Sergey Brin said at the time. According to the AFP article: CNIL, the National Commission for Information Freedom, said Goo [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Legal | Google: Street View

Google Relaunches Street View Website

Mar 14, 2011 at 6:49pm ET by Matt McGee

Google is revealing more about its sometimes controversial Street View product with an expanded web site that just launched today. The new site continues to show where Street View vehicles are currently active and educates people on how to use Street View's features. But there are new sections about the different Street View vehicles (cars, bikes, snowmobiles and a hand-pushed cart/trolley), as well as a non-technical explanation of how Google turns photos into Street View imagery. The new site also focuses on that imagery: the home page currently features a stunning photo of a botan [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Street View | Top News

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