Google Street View Problems in Germany

VAOJ has reported on the problems with Google Street View and privacy issues in Japan. There are also problems in Germany as well as other European countries. From The Local - Germany's On-line News in English:

German consumer protection minister Ilse Aigner says that internet giant Google could face "more than 50,000" lawsuits in Germany because of its controversial virtual photo service Street View.

Seems as though Google was not only taking unwanted photos, but gathering people's private internet information as well. From CNN Money.com:

The company is facing criminal charges from Germany related to its Google map feature, Street View. Street View shows 360 degree images of locations all over the globe. To get these images, Google deploys vans, cars and kooky tricycles equipped with cameras and GPS receivers, to collect photos of as many places as possible. Turns out, besides taking snapshots of the local biergarden in Germany, Google's vehicles were also mapping and enumerating the locations of open Wi-Fi networks.

Read the entire articles:

Minister: Google faces 50,000 lawsuits
http://www.thelocal.de/national/20100530-27527.html

Google, feeling lucky, tells German privacy czar to wait
http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/27/news/companies/google_privacy_fortune.fortune/

I am looking forward to investigating privacy issues and public photography in Germany. What kinds of challenges will my new students have in shooting their ethnographic films here? Stay tuned...