In a well-publicized news story, a man was caught “on camera” exiting a "gentleman's club" when Google photographed him for their StreetView project. He later sued Google because the revelation was unhappy news to his wife. Do you think Google is in the clear when they photograph the view from streets in your neighborhood?
I don't think Google is in the clear at all. If anything has been made clear to me from my classes about copyright & privacy is you can't be too careful. In my Education 370 class with Dr. Kellison we had to do a video project & she made it very clear that if there were people captured on camera we had to get signed permission. If the people were "just passing by" we had to inform them they were being filmed/photographed & give them the opportunity to get out of the frame if they wanted. With technology progressing like it is, it is imperative that we be careful with what we put online. Typically, the amount of "damage" done to the "victim" of the case is determined by the victim. So, although Google had no intention of getting this man in trouble, if enough "damage" was done to his life because of their photograph, then he has a lawsuit. It seems kindof crazy all the things you can sue for, but its harder & harder to protect your privacy when there are so many pictures, videos, blogs, etc.
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I'm so glad to hear about Dr. Kellison's requirement. She gave you all some very sage advice. As a precaution, her advice is a great idea to avoid a lawsuit.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if you are on public property, you can take photos of what you can see from that vantage point (within reasonable limits, I'm not talking about a super hi-res zoom lens). If a passer-by where to sue you, they'd very likely lose.
But when you're filming something for a living (or a grade), it's a wise move to get the permission to avoid trouble later.
Google has now taken the extra step of blurring people's faces since they're not in a position to ask/get permission.
Thats interesting! I definitely would not have thought that if you take a picture of a public place and somebody is captured they don't have a good argument to sue. From most of the things I have been learning about privacy, etc. I'm not surprised by any lawsuits anymore.
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