Stuart Aitken, editorial manager at the IAB, gets to grips with some personal data issues raised by Twitter and Google Street View.
As the digital world evolves it of course brings with it new dilemmas - some bigger than others. Two issues have been bugging me this week – both of which highlight issues about personal data in the online world.
First up I noticed that a block of houses on my street (including my own) have been removed from Google Street View. When looking for house numbers 56 to 88 on my street, all that is returned is a black screen with the words “this image is no longer available”.
It would appear then that someone has been looking after my privacy without consulting me. But why? Could the problem be that when the image first appeared on Street View there was a clearly visible parking warden standing outside my house – if anyone's ever taken a photograph in Stoke Newington after 8am, you'll know it's almost impossible not to accidentally snap a passing traffic warden.
So I reported the issue to Google using the “report a problem” function on Street View. “We will review your submission,” came the automatically generated response. Intrigued I connected the press office for some more information. A very helpful spokesperson informed me that while Google can’t comment on individual cases, they could suggest: “It may have been that a request for additional blurring has been made and that while we apply that the image is temporarily unavailable.”
Whatever the case, one week on and the image is still unavailable. I’m sure that Google has to deal with thousands of requests like these, so I can understand why it would take some time to add the necessary blurring. But I am left to wonder how someone has the power to remove a picture of my house. And I still have no idea why they would request that this was done.
My second dilemma involves Twitter. I’ve written before about the issue of Twitterjacking – the act of squatting a brand or celebrity’s Twitter domain – but have yet to find out exactly how brands go about re-claiming a Twitter address that they feel is being used inappropriately.
Last week I interviewed someone in exactly this situation – US composer Steve Reich. He expressed his incredulity that anyone would want to impersonate him on Twitter and explained that his record label is currently trying to resolve the situation.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that the folks at Twitter are very helpful when faced with such cases - but there seems to be very limited information out there about what to do if you are the subject of a twitterjacking.
Both these cases highlight important issues surrounding ownership of your data online. When is your data yours? Who owns your name, or a picture of your house, or even your face? And who gets to decide what happens to it? You assume you should, but is that really the case?
