Students who were on campus during the summer may have noticed a passing car outfitted with cameras atop a tall pole.
Google recently visited the University as part of an update to its Street View imagery of Louisiana.
Street View is a Google Maps feature that allows users to view locations from ground level. The update to imagery in Louisiana took several months to complete, according to a Google spokesperson.
The spokesperson said Google asks the permission of owners of private properties before gathering photos for Street View.
“The collection of imagery for privately-owned destinations, including LSU, is made possible by agreements through our Street View Partner Program,” the spokesperson said.
The Street View Partner Program is a way for owners of private venues like zoos, theme parks and universities to grant Google access to their grounds for photographing for Street View. Google workers were only able to take photos of campus after the University agreed to the process.
The photos are gathered by cameras mounted on cars and trikes driven by Google workers. Google then prepares the images to go online.
“We take all the individual photos that have been collected by the cameras and ‘stitch’ them together to make the 360-degree panorama that you see on Google Maps,” the spokesperson said in an email.
The ability to see places from street level has proven useful for psychology freshman Wesley Bordelon.
“If I need to know what the front of a building looks like, then I can see it,” Bordelon said.
But psychology freshman Laura Flandez worries she may be caught in a Street View image that would be posted for the world to see on Google Maps.
“If it happens to be in the morning in a robe when I’m grabbing the mail, then maybe I don’t want that to be there,” Flandez said.
Bill Corbett, a professor at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, said a person could sue Google for invasion of privacy, but would likely have a hard time winning the case.
“If they’re simply riding by or walking by on streets, it’s pretty hard to argue that’s an invasion of privacy… That’s something anybody going down the street can see,” Corbett said.
Corbett said the crime relevant to Street View privacy concerns is intrusion of seclusion, meaning someone intentionally invaded private affairs.
Corbett explained since Street View uses photos of things that could be seen by anyone in public, a person suing Google would not have much of a case.
Still, he noted how the capabilities of technologies like Street View can feel intrusive.
“The disturbing thing to a lot of people is today, there is no expectation of privacy,” Corbett said.
While Google can post pictures of public areas, a person captured in those shots may feel uncomfortable with them being online.
“There’s a difference between the people around me can see me and the whole world seeing me,” Corbett said.
According to the Google spokesperson, Google does make an effort to lessen this uneasiness.
“We then apply cutting-edge face and license plate blurring technology to help ensure that passers-by in the photographs can’t be identified,” the spokesperson said.
The Google spokesperson noted if a person does find an image on Street View they feel is inappropriate or intrusive, a “report a problem” link is available at the bottom of the image window.
