Burapha University International Conference, BUU-2014

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The legal protection of right to privacy in case of “Google street view”: A comparative study of Thai and US. Laws.
Kanathip Thongraweewong

Last modified: 2014-06-02

Abstract


“Google street view” was released in 2007 as part of “Google maps which enables user to view real panoramic street-level imagery. The images are recorded by vehicles equipped with advanced imaging technology, driving down the road. In the initial stage, the scope of images is restricted to the cities in the U.S. However, the scope is expanded to cover other countries. In Thailand, the Google map application is currently available and major cities such as Bangkok can be viewed as part of virtual street scene. The images of real places including the details of individual can be found which affected the right to privacy of individual. Thus, this research aims to study the application of Thai existing laws which is relevant and could be applied to protect the right to privacy of person who is affected by Google street view. The qualitative study by content analysis is introduced with the comparison to the application of the U.S. related laws. The result indicated that, the U.S. and Thai privacy laws share similarities in a sense that privacy law relating to the collection of personal data of both jurisdictions is not united but a piecemeal consisting of various laws. In addition, the related laws have several limitations in applying to protect the right of privacy in case of Google street view. For instance, the U.S. constitution’s scope is limited to government action. In addition, statutes and common laws at state level have limitations especially the protection of privacy in public places. Comparing to Thai related laws, the research indicated that civil and commercial code, criminal code, and computer crime Act are only possible doctrines. Nevertheless, this research found limitations and problems in applying these laws to protect right to privacy in case of Google street view.


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