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To put things into perspective: Google has a 97% market share for search here in Germany, IIRC. Don't know the other numbers, but they are probably quite high f

To put things into perspective: Google has a 97% market share for search here in Germany, IIRC. Don't know the other numbers, but they are probably quite high for online video, too. Also, I'd say, people here don't have the blind faith, U.S. people seem to have concerning cooperations and free markets. Under these circumstances, it shouldn't be a surprise that Germans are reluctant to watch some large cooperation build another potential monopoly out of other people's "property" -- namely their privacy.

ugh 16y ago
That again? How can photographs taken from public places be your property? How do you have a right to stop anyone, including Google, from taking them?
- cschwarm 16y ago
  Well, there are some different questions: First, do they have a right to use a camera mounted in a height above the normal eye level? Why should people be required to adjust the height of their fences to protect themselves from Google's view? Just because there are no laws against this yet, doens't mean Google has a right. Second, even if they have the right to make the photos, do they also have the right to automatically make them public? There's no human judgement involved, so who's responsible when Google camera catches you naked while sun-bathing in your own garden? Who can be sued for taking these images down and who's paying for the damage that is created while the photos were online? Third, do the have the right to connect the photos with street addresss so the views are searchable? This decreases search costs and your home will be public not just to bypassers, but to anyone. Who said, they are allowded to do that? And this is the point: They asked noone but just though they could act as if they are free do however they please. This may work in the U.S. but this doens't work here. Or, at least, that's not how it should work.
  - ugh 16y ago
    1. Three meters is not an unreasonable height, that’s about your eye height in a bus. People already don’t have a reasonable expectation of privacy from cameras that height. 2. They have the right to make them public. It’s right there in the law. And if something goes wrong you can sue Google - they are responsible, they have a German address and all. 3. It’s not illegal. You don’t have to ask anybody. Google can take photos in public and I don’t want anyone to take that right away from Google because at the same time my right to do the same is also taken away. Can’t you see that? You also seem to have a poor understanding of the current legislation in Germany.
    - electromagnetic 16y ago
      I'm sorry, I find it grossly naive that you believe a photograph taken from beyond the legislated privacy fence height in most jurisdictions to be not unreasonable. Of course people don't have a reasonable expectation of privacy from 3 meters tall, they have a reasonable expectation that people will respect the spirit of the law and not be a raging moron and place a camera at that height. I do know that in many jurisdictions, probably including Germany, that it is completely 100% illegal to profit from your photography of another person without their written consent. Given that Google photographed several of my friends, didn't get them to sign a released and is making a profit off of its unconsented photography it is violating the law. So, just for clarification. Google is violating the law in many jurisdictions. I'm unsure about Germany, but I know they are in the UK and Canada even though no charges have been brought. Perhaps because Google isn't specifically trying to make a profit off of the personal images they have taken, but under the letter of the law they are completely violating it at the moment. This is perhaps why they are working on software to remove people from their photographs, because they already know they're breaking the law.
      - ugh 16y ago
        It’s perfectly legal to profit from photos which happen to have people in them without any consent, written or otherwise. And I damn well hope that it stays that way.
        16y ago
  - Tichy 16y ago
    I don't want to live in a society where everything needs explicit approval (whitelisting). Some things should explicitly be disallowed (blacklisting).

ugh 16y ago

That again? How can photographs taken from public places be your property? How do you have a right to stop anyone, including Google, from taking them?

cschwarm 16y ago
Well, there are some different questions: First, do they have a right to use a camera mounted in a height above the normal eye level? Why should people be required to adjust the height of their fences to protect themselves from Google's view? Just because there are no laws against this yet, doens't mean Google has a right. Second, even if they have the right to make the photos, do they also have the right to automatically make them public? There's no human judgement involved, so who's responsible when Google camera catches you naked while sun-bathing in your own garden? Who can be sued for taking these images down and who's paying for the damage that is created while the photos were online? Third, do the have the right to connect the photos with street addresss so the views are searchable? This decreases search costs and your home will be public not just to bypassers, but to anyone. Who said, they are allowded to do that? And this is the point: They asked noone but just though they could act as if they are free do however they please. This may work in the U.S. but this doens't work here. Or, at least, that's not how it should work.
- ugh 16y ago
  1. Three meters is not an unreasonable height, that’s about your eye height in a bus. People already don’t have a reasonable expectation of privacy from cameras that height. 2. They have the right to make them public. It’s right there in the law. And if something goes wrong you can sue Google - they are responsible, they have a German address and all. 3. It’s not illegal. You don’t have to ask anybody. Google can take photos in public and I don’t want anyone to take that right away from Google because at the same time my right to do the same is also taken away. Can’t you see that? You also seem to have a poor understanding of the current legislation in Germany.
  - electromagnetic 16y ago
    I'm sorry, I find it grossly naive that you believe a photograph taken from beyond the legislated privacy fence height in most jurisdictions to be not unreasonable. Of course people don't have a reasonable expectation of privacy from 3 meters tall, they have a reasonable expectation that people will respect the spirit of the law and not be a raging moron and place a camera at that height. I do know that in many jurisdictions, probably including Germany, that it is completely 100% illegal to profit from your photography of another person without their written consent. Given that Google photographed several of my friends, didn't get them to sign a released and is making a profit off of its unconsented photography it is violating the law. So, just for clarification. Google is violating the law in many jurisdictions. I'm unsure about Germany, but I know they are in the UK and Canada even though no charges have been brought. Perhaps because Google isn't specifically trying to make a profit off of the personal images they have taken, but under the letter of the law they are completely violating it at the moment. This is perhaps why they are working on software to remove people from their photographs, because they already know they're breaking the law.
    - ugh 16y ago
      It’s perfectly legal to profit from photos which happen to have people in them without any consent, written or otherwise. And I damn well hope that it stays that way.
      - 16y ago
- Tichy 16y ago
  I don't want to live in a society where everything needs explicit approval (whitelisting). Some things should explicitly be disallowed (blacklisting).