2009 AAG presentation for the "Is Google Good for Geography?" session.
Can the GeoWeb Get the Public to Care about Geography? The Positive Externalities of a Web Enabled Ecosystem
15. Concerns about licenses? (b) You give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to access, reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute business listings data contained in Maps API Implementations. For example, if you create a store locator application, Google may use the business listings information from the store locator to improve the Google Services such as Google Maps and local search. (c) You agree that this license includes a right for Google to make Your Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such Content in connection with the provision of those services.
17. Google’s privacy defense Where does Google get the images in Google Earth and how does it protect my privacy? Google Earth uses satellite and aerial imagery to provide users with views of locations around the globe. Google licenses or purchases this imagery from government and private sector providers that make this imagery available commercially. In addition, anyone who flies above or drives by a piece of property will see similar images. The resolution of this imagery does not typically permit the identification of individuals, and the images are not real-time, so they do not capture current activities. There are different laws in different countries about what imagery can and cannot be commercially distributed or published and we respect those laws. Where buildings are blurred on Google Earth – for example the Royal Palace in the Netherlands – this is done by the supplier that provided the images to Google. Street View captures images of people on the street? Is that legal? Street View only features imagery taken in public locations. This imagery is no different from what any person can readily capture or see walking down the street. While Street View enables people to easily find, discover, and plan activities relevant to a location, we respect the fact that people may not want imagery they feel is objectionable featured on the service. We recently incorporated face-blurring into Street View using state-of-the-art technology. We also provide easily accessible tools for flagging inappropriate or sensitive imagery for blurring or removal. Each Street View imagery bubble contains a link to “Street View Help” where users can report objectionable images. We routinely review these takedown requests and act quickly to remove objectionable imagery.