[geoff01]

On Thursday, the software giant announced that Google Maps now allows users to navigate some UK city streets, using photographs taken at a street-level viewpoint. It has been rolling out its Street View service gradually in various countries, starting with the US, since May 2007. Camera-equipped cars began photographing British streets in the summer of 2008.

"Street View has been hugely popular with our users in Europe and worldwide, and we're thrilled it's now available in the UK for so many great cities, enabling users to see street-level panoramas of major city roads and look up and print out useful driving directions," Ed Parsons, Google UK's geospatial technologist, said in a statement.

The full list of UK cities covered by the service includes: London, Edinburgh, Leeds, Bradford, Cambridge, Cardiff, Belfast, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Oxford, Sheffield, Nottingham, Derby, Bristol, Coventry, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Swansea, York, Newcastle, Dundee, Southampton, Norwich and S****horpe. The scope of Street View is limited in some cities, a spokesperson for Google said.

London's mayor, Boris Johnson, said in the Google statement that Street View was "a hugely practical tool if you're off to an area of the city you've never been to before or are on the hunt for a new home".

znet.co.uk

[geoff01]

Complaints force Google to remove embarrassing Street View images

For the man emerging from a Soho sex shop and another being sick on the pavement outside an east London pub, Google's Street View proved a snapshot of modern life perhaps best not preserved. They are among a series of images that have been removed from the new mapping application, Google confirmed today, after complaints about invasion of privacy.

Street View, launched in the UK yesterday, allows users to access 360-degree views of roads and homes in 25 cities. It is the culmination of a year-long project that saw a fleet of specially modified cars covering 22,369 miles of roads and snapping away at their surroundings.

Google claims 99.9% of faces and number plates are blurred by its automated technology, but many people, perhaps taking a cigarette break outside their office, can still be identified if they are in the background.

Today the company could not confirm exactly how many complaints it had received, but moved to honour its pledge to deal promptly with offending images, removing or blacking them out. "When we launched, we explained how importantly we take privacy and we explained how easy it is to remove pictures," a Google spokeswoman said. "We have received a few removals in the last 24 hours but it is less than expected."

Users can log inappropriate content or privacy concerns by clicking on a link at the bottom of each scene. The spokeswoman said the search giant had also received compliments on the service and inquiries from people asking when their street would be included.

Ed Parsons, Google's geospatial technologist, said the information commissioner and police were consulted about Street View. "Privacy is really important to us. We recognise that there have been concerns about that and we think we have addressed those concerns. We have spoken to Scotland Yard and, from a crime point of view, they are happy with it, there are no issues there," he said.

A spokeswoman for the information commissioner's office said it was satisfied that adequate standards were in place to ensure people's privacy. "Although it is possible that, in certain limited circumstances, an image may allow the identification of an individual, it is clear that Google is keen to capture images of streets and not individuals," she said.

Street View images are taken from public roads, captured by a number of cars which have been driving around the UK since last summer. The cars are continuing to photograph streets, which will enable Google to extend the service to cover more cities.

The technology, launched in the US in 2007, is also available in the Netherlands, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, France, Spain and Italy.

Guardian.co.uk

[pluggy]

A bit overblown since Google will remove any image on request, no questions asked.

[geoff01]

UK Google boss escapes cameras

THE £2m home of the UK head of Google, the internet search engine, is not visible in the company’s new Street View service.

The web function allows users to view photographs of thousands of UK streets and houses, with the option to swivel 360 degrees and zoom in on homes.

The Google boss Dennis Woodside’s west London town house is not one of them. His residence is situated in a private gated development in

Kensington, where the 40-year-old American lives with his wife and two children.

Google’s staff spent months photographing millions of high-resolution images in 25 UK cities using a fleet of car-mounted cameras.

Last night a Google spokeswoman, Laura Scott, said Woodside’s house had not been omitted on purpose but was not included because it was on a private road, and no private roads were included.

The company has said it will remove or blur images of homes if people feel their security or privacy has been breached. Home owners can fill in a form on the website.

The launch of the service sparked controversy because of some of the images included.Shots of a man emerging from a Soho sex shop are among those removed after complaints.

Images of naked toddlers enjoying a family picnic in a quiet London square were also removed after they were discovered by a newspaper.

Richard Thomas, the information commissioner is considering an investigation into the new service if similar images are found. Google is facing threats of legal action in Germany as its image mapping threatens privacy laws.

Google uses face-recognition technology automatically to blur most faces and numberplates captured by its cameras.

Some close-up shots of Downing Street and the House of Commons have also been removed, though last night images of policemen guarding the London home of the former prime minister, Tony Blair, were still on the site.

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/...cle5951455.ece

[geoff01]

Angry villagers formed a human chain to thwart the progress of a Google Street View car that was in the process of taking photographs of their homes.

Police were called to Broughton in Buckinghamshire yesterday, after furious villagers blocked one of the cars, complaining it was an invasion of their privacy and that the photographs would attract burglaries.

Paul Jacobs, a local resident, spotted the car yesterday morning, thanks to the distinctive 360-degree camera attached to its roof. He told the driver not to enter the village, then roused fellow residents by knocking on their doors. The driver eventually did a U-turn and left the scene.

Google Street View, a controversial mapping service that launched in the UK last month, gives 360-degree views of Britain’s biggest cities, allowing people to take virtual tours from their computers or mobile phones.

Times.online

[For4tune]

Recently I have seen the google street view van driving around Toronto. Apparently we're next on the list for Street View. Apparently they will also be blurring out faces here due to privacy concerns.

Interesting!

William

[pluggy]

They're getting down to the 'sticks' here in the UK, I saw one of their camera cars in Clitheroe last week and somebody reported seeing one in Barnoldswick a couple of days ago. Barnoldswick is a very small town (enthusiastic village really) with no particular significance in the grand scheme of things. I haven't heard any reports of riots or civil unrest due to their presence, but we're not southerners with fragile egos living in hugely expensive houses......

:

[For4tune]

I thought I read an article about somewhere in the UK where drivers literally blocked the path to the google photovan, the police were called and turned it back to save civil unrest?

I personally don't see the problem.
Only people with something to hide, or those conspiracy nuts reading too many police-state books, ever have a problem with privacy issues.

Whats the chinese proverb? Something like:
" If you don't want people to know - don't do it! "

And if it's something any normal padestrian walking by can see anyway, then there is no harm in putting it online in my opinion.

Max

[geoff01]

Street View, the controversial service from Google that broadcasts 360-degree views of homes and roads in many of Britain's cities via the internet, is not a threat to personal privacy, the information commissioner has ruled.

Hundreds of people have already complained about the month-old-service that allows users to view millions of photographs of homes, people and cars, in 25 cities and towns. Although Google obscures faces and numberplates, critics say it is ******istic and has become a tool for burglars. Scores of pictures, including one of a man leaving a Soho sex shop, were removed the day after the site's UK launch. In the US, fans use the site to identify the homes of celebrities and in some cases images of the stars themselves.

Earlier this month residents in Broughton, an affluent village in Buckinghamshire, formed a human chain to block a Google car, with a tripod-mounted camera on its roof.

Anticipating the concerns, the UK's leading privacy protection campaign group, Privacy International, lodged a formal complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office last month. But, in a 2,500 word response, the ICO said it was satisfied that Google was not breaching privacy laws.

It also dismissed Privacy International's argument that Street View should seek people's consent. "If consent were required by the law, then the producers of, say, Match of the Day, would have to gain the consent of all people attending televised football matches who might be caught on camera," it commented.

Privacy International said it was "disappointed at the findings", and that some parts "lack the rigour that is necessary to protect Britain from the encroachment of the surveillance society".

Guardian.co.uk

[dude111]

The whole thing is just SCARY!

Cars driving round taking pictures,etc.. Makes ya not wanna go outside anymore!!

Very disturbing indeed!