Want Off Street View? Google Wants Your ID and a Sworn Statement -- UPDATE: Google Gives

EFF privacy advocate and unhappy Street View model Kevin Bankston made good on his vow to try out Google's take-down policy after THREAT LEVEL found a picture of his unwitting mug stalking the sidewalks near EFF's offices. What he learned: Google is happy to remove you from Street View ... provided you give them a wealth of additional information, including a photo of your driver's license.

(Update, 6/15 13:41: Google Cuts The Red Tape)

Here's Google's requirements, as sent to Bankston:

To request removal of your image from Street View, you must demonstrate that you are the person shown in the panorama you would like removed. We will not take action if you are reporting on behalf of someone else (such as a friend, relative or stranger), except that you may report on behalf of your minor child. To show that you are the person in the image you would like removed, you must provide us with the information specified below. To expedite our ability to process your request, please use the following format on your verification form:

1. Provide your legal name.

2. Provide your e-mail address.

3. Provide the street view address of the Street View image you would like removed.

4. Include the sworn statement: "I declare, under penalty of perjury, that the information in this notification is accurate."

5. Attach a clear, readable copy of a valid photo ID (e.g. driver's license, national ID card, etc). If you are requesting removal of an image of a location, attach a copy of a document demonstrating your association with that location ( e.g. business card or letterhead).

6. Please e-mail your completed verification form, along with the necessary attachment, to maps-legal@google.com within 5 days. If you are unable to upload a copy of your photo ID electronically in an e-mail, you may also fax us a copy of your form and photo ID to (650) 887-0389.

We will temporarily remove the Street View image pending receipt of your ID verification. If we have not received a copy of your photo ID within 5 days, then we will restore the panorama back to Street View. Please note that we will investigate your complaint and take action as needed. We will not contact you unless we need more information to review your request. If you see that the panorama was not removed from Street View, it is likely that it did not meet our conditions for permanent removal.

Regards,

The Google Team

"Apparently, you have to jump through more hoops than a trained seal," write Bankston. "Perhaps they'd also like my mother's maiden name? Birth certificate? Urine sample?"

He continues:

Of course, if the choice is giving Google a copy of my driver's license or leaving the picture up, I'll take the latter, regardless of how unflattering it may be. It's worth noting that there's no apparent policy limiting Google's use of the information I'm being asked to provide to them.

Update:

Bankston writes, "Google has blinked, backing down from its demand for my driver's license and a sworn statement and agreeing not to use the information I submit for any purpose other than processing my request." Google product counsel Daphne Keller personally phoned Bankston to tell him about the change in policy, and then Google's help desk sent him the new requirements:

To ensure the best possible user experience it is important that only inappropriate images are removed from Street View. Therefore, we ask for verification that the person depicted (or a parent or guardian of that person) is really the source of the image removal request. [The verification process explained in this email is a replacement for our earlier verification process. If you have received instructions for the older process, you can disregard them and just follow the steps in this email.]

In order to confirm that you are the person shown, and that you are formally requesting removal of your image from the Maps service, please complete the following and reply to this email. We will temporarily remove the Street View image pending receipt of your response to this email. If we have not received the response within 5 days, then we will restore the panorama back to Street View.

(1) Your name:

(2) The location of the image in our service

By responding, you are representing and confirming that you are the person depicted (or parent/guardian) and that you seek removal of the image.

Google will only use the information you send in this email for purposes of processing and responding to your request for the image to be removed.

Regards,

The Google Team

Bankston replied ("I am the dark-haired Caucasian fellow in the striped button-down shirt …") and Google took down his image just a couple minutes ago.

It's worth noting Bankston's picture wasn't X-rated, or any more intrusive than all the other candid shots in Street View. That means Google has no content-based standard for a take-down, and no verification that the requester is the person pictured. Anyone willing to lie in an e-mail should be able to remove any picture with a human in it.

I doubt this will stand. Google won't go back its unseemly Kafkaesque process, but I predict when the attention dies down Google will begin requiring a complaint be accompanied by a photo of the person making it, perhaps holding a sign reading "Take Me Off Street View," in the style of MySpace's "salute" procedure for getting an imposter's profile deleted.