Europe May Forbid Photos of Your Home; US Law Does Not

Threats to Google’s Street View program illustrate how variations in international law can impact internet companies.

Street View, a 360-degree zoomable web application, allows you to use your computer to take a virtual tour of cities and towns and feel as though you are standing right on the streets of that city. Google gathers the pictures for Street View with vehicles driving on public roads and equipped with advanced imaging technology.

Google’s plans to expand Street View into European cities are encountering some bumps in the road. Germany threatened sanctions if Google failed to make some changes to the Street View program. Among other problems, Germany was most concerned with Google’s unauthorized filming of people’s residences and private property without their permission. Evidently that’s a no-no under German law. Directly across the pond, Beatle Paul McCartney joined in on the Google bashing and demanded that his London mansion be removed from Street View’s UK application. News reports indicated that Google complied with McCartney’s demand.

Don’t Try That In the United States

The European complaints about Street View remind me of a similar situation in the United States that generated a much different result. This U.S. situation focuses on singer/actress Barbara Streisand.

The California Coastal Records Project offers 12,000 aerial views and frames of the California coastline. After discovering that a single frame included her Malibu estate, Barbara Streisand sued claiming that the inclusion of her home in the photo invaded her privacy, violated California’s "anti-paparazzi" statute, and threatened her security. Not only was Streisand’s lawsuit dismissed on an anti-SLAPP motion, she was also ordered to reimburse California Coastal Records and other defendants $177,107.54 for their legal fees and her actions were extensively ridiculed in the media.