Google’s Street View debut disguised surveillance expansion as friendly privacy respect

Evidence

Fleischer similarly assures his audience of friendly terms. Street View, which used cartoonishly wrapped cars with a large 360-degree camera mount on the roof to capture the imagery it sought, was designed to “respect the privacy of people who happen to be walking down a public street,” Fleischer wrote. “That’s why we designed a simple process for anyone to contact us and have their image removed,” and he promised that it would respect laws and customs “in other parts of the world.” — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 447

Categorization

• QUESTION: Worth chasing: how early did Google executives publicly acknowledge the pattern Zuboff describes — that opt-out mechanisms legitimize rather than limit the surveillance?
• XREF: connects to: Google Maps marked surveillance’s shift from knowledge to influence and control — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 480; Google legally framed public spaces as unauthorized surveillance territory — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 444; Google Street View triggered worldwide legal and public resistance — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 454 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Google Street View triggered worldwide legal and public resistance #expands (0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 454
• Google’s mapping games served as test beds for expanding surveillance capitalism into physical space #corroborates (0.75) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 472
• Privacy controversies have not slowed the global expansion of surveillance-capitalist services #complicates (0.75) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 469