Boring couple in Pittsburgh sue Google over Street View

In the lawsuit filed Wednesday, Aaron and Christine Boring say they bought their home in late 2006 partly because of its secluded location on a street that is "clearly marked with a 'Private Road' sign."

Google Street View was expanded to Pittsburgh in October. The Borings found that their home was clearly visible on the map, causing them "mental suffering" and diluting their home value, according to the suit. They are seeking more than $25,000 in damages and asking that the images of their home be taken off the site and destroyed.


A Google spokesman said there is no merit to the lawsuit. "It is unfortunate litigation was chosen to address the concern because we have visible tools, such as a YouTube video to help people learn about image removal, and an easy-to-use process to facilitate any such request," he said.

Ironically, the Borings have subjected themselves to even more public exposure by filing the lawsuit, which includes their home address, notes The Smoking Gun site, which first reported the lawsuit. In addition, the Allegheny County's Office of Property Assessments includes a photo of the home on its Web site, according to the blog post.

Never mind that there is clearly no Private Road sign at the beginning of Oakridge Lane when viewing it in Google Maps Street View, or that photos of the Boring home, its approximate value, taxes paid, and details of the internal structure are all available on the Allegheny County Web site.

All of that is even completely irrelevant, since taking photographs of homes from public streets is clearly protected by the First Amendment. Just ask Barbara Streisand who sued an aerial mapping company for including photographs of her home in its products. Streisand lost that suit and was forced to pay the companies legal fees.

Concerns over invasion of privacy have been discussed since Google first released Street View in May.

Shortly after launching the product Google decided to remove recognizable faces and license plates when people request it, which quelled some complaints. The Street View photos are taken in the public domain, which is considered fair game.