Can Google Harvest Data from the Google Map API?

May 27, 2013 10:33 PM

The question came up about our use of the Google Map API. We have Google maps which we populate with XML data. Can Google harvest that data when a user views it? For example: a map is showing employees, their locations and their salaries (fictitious example).
posted by rmmcclay to Technology (2 answers total)

Do you mean is it theoretically technically possible, or do you mean do their terms of service allow for it? From a technical standpoint, Google can access any content in any frame in which you have loaded Javascript code from Google's servers. It is doubtful that they actually do this, especially without anybody noticing, but it is technically feasible.

From a terms of service perspective, I don't know.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 10:44 PM on May 27, 2013

Best answer: Yes, the data you send via the Google Maps API is covered by the same terms as any other data you send Google and can be used for any purpose covered by the general Google privacy policy. See Section 11.1 of the Maps API Terms of Service.
posted by backupjesus at 5:27 AM on May 28, 2013