STATE SAYS YOU CAN Google IT
ALBANY — State lawmakers have given Google Maps and other web mapping services the benefit of the doubt when it comes to their accuracy.
A bill approved in the final hours of the state Legislature’s annual session would give Google Maps and other global imaging websites the presumption of accuracy when they are used as evidence in New York courts.
“We have all been relying on Google Maps for years and this is a way to have the court system catch up to what the rest of us have been doing,” said State Sen. Michael Gianaris (DQueens, photo), who sponsored the bill.
Currently, if a claimant or defendant in a court action wants to use information from Google Maps or a similar site as evidence, they also have to provide evidence or testimony that the information is accurate, which can be costly and time consuming, Gianaris said.
Under Gianaris’ bill, information taken from Google Maps and similar sites would be presumed accurate unless “credible and reliable evidence” is presented showing that it is not.
Federal courts, Gianaris noted, have already granted such “judicial notice” to Google Maps and web mapping sites.
“This is a way to streamline the court process,” Gianaris said.
The bill was one of the last pieces of legislation approved by lawmakers before the Legislature’s session ended late Wednesday night. It will be sent to Gov. Cuomo’s desk sometime in the coming weeks.
“We will review the bill,” Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said.
“We have all been relying on Google Maps for years and this is way to have the court system catch up to what the rest of us have been doing.”
—STATE SEN. MICHAEL GIANARIS