Google Street View is here to stay.

Google street view is a revolutionary service which enables you to see panoramic photos of streets in the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and Japan (and the list is growing as this article is being written…)
Many people has raised their concerns over Google Street view, mainly because of privacy issues. Some embarrassing photos, captured by this service included a woman urinating next to a car, a man vomiting and individuals entering a sex shop.



To tackle these concerns, Google includes quite an invisible link titled ‘report a problem’ on every ‘Street View’ photo. This allow users to request a photo to be removed. It has been reported that a driving license ID was required to verify the identity of the person requesting a photo removal. However, testing this feature on the UK version, required a reason for removal, description and email address which seemed reasonable. Google has also an automated technique to blur people’s faces and car’s number plates. Sometimes Google Street view blurs faces of people in an advertisement as you can see in this post’s picture…

There were incidents reported about people taking action against ‘Street View’; in Buckinghamshire, UK , residents stopped a Google van which was taking panoramic photos of a street. They didn’t like the fact that someone was taking a picture of their house without permission. Google responded by saying:” Imagery is taken on public property and is no different from what any person can readily capture or see walking down the street”

Similar to the Luddites, who destroyed machines fearing that they will loss their jobs, technology is often being misunderstood in its early stages. It is true that privacy is being compromised by Street View, simply because now every person who knows your address can see your house. It is also true that ‘Street View’ will be used by burglars planning to break into your house. Each new invention is also a gateway for people to misuse it but lets not forget about the benefits of this service.

When looking for a property to buy or rent ‘Street View’ is a fantastic tool to browse the neighborhood before getting there. When meeting with friends in a specific venue, seeing it beforehand really helps for recognizing it later and saves time. People who work on community design and streetscape projects find this service extremely useful because it saves them from having to take many pictures of an area. This is just the beginning and there will be many more positive things to do with this service in the future. It is definitely here to stay.

What are your thoughts on Google Street view?
Is it a privacy risk or a great product?

  Tags: google, street view, technology