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02 April 2009 / John Cooper KC
Issue: 7363 / Categories: Features , Data protection
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Streets ahead of the law

Does Google’s “Streetview” compromise stretch the boundaries of privacy? John Cooper reports

A few weeks ago, Google launched “Streetview” in the UK. An intricate series of photographs of every street in London can now be accessed by anyone on the internet, revealing almost every home in the capital, right down, one solicitor told me, to the geraniums in her window box.
There has been a significant amount of sabre rattling in this country by those who find their properties and even their images appearing on the Google facility, but, what are the prospects of success against Google as a result of Streetview in the UK?

Last September a few months after Streetview was launched in Europe, officials in the small town of Molfsee in Germany alleged that Google needed a permit in order to take photographic images of their streets and that it would not be granted any. Interestingly, Google deleted the images from this area, but kept the rest of Germany online. The current state of challenge in Europe depends upon

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Bell Yard Kysen—Liz Giles

Bell Yard Kysen—Liz Giles

Bell Yard Kysen appoints senior legal PR and ex-government communications adviser, Liz Giles

Clarke Willmott—Lee Edwards

Clarke Willmott—Lee Edwards

Clarke Willmott boosts Southampton commercial property team with addition of partner Lee Edwards

Lime Solicitors—four promotions

Lime Solicitors—four promotions

Lime Solicitors announces four promotions

NEWS
The Attorney General, Ellie Reeves KC MP, and Solicitor General, Andy Slaughter KC MP, marked the 25th anniversary of Pro Bono Week by joining lawyers, charities, students and parliamentarians at events celebrating voluntary legal work
A polished legal defence may owe more to artificial intelligence than legal merit—and creditors risk paying the price in delay and expense
Witness evidence can be compromised by AI before a solicitor sees the draft, leaving safeguards focused on authorship incomplete
Should a conviction stand when a later ruling reveals that the law underpinning it was wrong? The answer exposes a clash between finality and justice
Possession claims are entering a new digital era, with procedural traps awaiting practitioners who assume familiar rules still govern every step
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