Google Street View is a feature of Google Maps and Google Earth which provides a 360° horizontal and 290° vertical panoramic view of that street, from a height of about 2.5 meters.
It was launched on May 25, 2007, and has slowly began to expand to include more cities, and more streets within these cities. These photographs are currently available for countries including United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
Privacy Issues of Google Street View
Google has let it be known that it is their ultimate goal to provide street views of the entire world. The company has not disclosed the dates when any of these locations will be added, and this concept of viewing the entire world through street view is an incredibly optimistic, yet for some, incredibly frightening possibility.
The fear of privacy invasion and other similar concerns have arisen, especially after people have been photographed picking their nose, entering adult movie stores, and even getting out of the shower.
Face-Scrambling Technology of Google Street View
Google maintains their actions through the fact that their photos were taken from public property, and that they have the right to take these photographs as much as any tourist or other citizen does.
May 2008, Google began testing a new face-blurring technology for its Street View service, responding to these privacy concerns. One of the drawbacks of this technology, though, is that faces on billboards and posters are also blurred, a problem that Google is still dealing with.
Currently, Google keeps the original, unblurred photos on file to help tweak their software and make improvements, though they did claim that they would only keep the unblurred photos as long as they were still needed.
Google Street View in Canada
Currently there are no available street views in any Canadian cities yet, but that is going to change soon. Google has compiled a list of 32 cities where they are planning to photograph key areas, and release them onto the website.
These cities include: Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Abbotsford, Kelowna, Vancouver, Victoria, Winnipeg, Moncton, Saint John, Halifax, Barrie, Brantford, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Oshawa, Ottawa, St. Catharines-Niagara, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Windsor, Charlottetown, Montreal, Quebec City, Saguenay, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières, Regina, and Saskatoon.
There have even been concerns raised that Google Street View is taking photographs at the end of the winter, before the city's greenery has had a chance to fully return, and this may in turn generate a negative image or perspective of a specific city.
Global Reach of Google Street View
Currently, Google Street View is used in the USA, Australia, France, Italy, Japan, Spain, England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and The Netherlands. There are plans to extend Google Street View into Portugal, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Austria, Belgium, Greece, Sweden, Poland, and the majority of Central Europe.
One of the major sources of the delay in Google Street View's availability in Europe is that, in Europe, the creation of Google Street View may not be legal in some areas. Some European countries have laws prohibiting the filming without consent of an individual on public property for the purpose of public display.
Internet Security and Google Street View
Internet security has become a definite hot topic of debate in the past few years, and it will undoubtedly continue to grow as access to the internet becomes more widespread, and as more and more information becomes digitized and available online. These days, every individual has to take extra precautions to safe guard all information, and ensure that they are taking all the steps necessary to protect themselves, and their families.
- Google's Street View could be unlawful in Europe, Out-Law.com
- "Google’s Street View site raises alarm over privacy". The Scottish Herald, June 4, 2007.
- CNet News, Google begins blurring faces in Street View
