Google Street View is coming to the UK. If you haven’t had a chance to use Street View have a look at Google Street View found on Google Maps on one of the major US cites such as New York or San Francisco. For those of you who are not familiar with it, Google Street View is a feature of Google Maps and Google Earth that provides 360° panoramic street-level views and allows users to view parts of selected cities and their surrounding metropolitan areas at ground level.
Earlier this year black VW Beetles were spotted on the streets of London and more recently in Belfast with camera mounted on the roof. I can report no sightings in Chichester yet!
There have been complaints and possible legal actions in the US regarding issues of privacy. Google will remove pictures if you are caught on camera and complain but whether this will be enough to satisfy the courts has yet to be tested.
Here in the UK the Information Commissioner’s Office who has been investigating complaints are satisfied that Google has put in place adequate safeguards. Although Google hasn’t commented directly on the ICO’s statement the UK version is likely to be launched in the next few months.
