Google Street View UK launches but legality still unclear

Google has launched its Street View feature in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. But there’s still a legal dispute about whether the images breach British privacy guidelines.

From today, Street View is available for 25 British cities. Unlike the existing options of aerial photographs, or the bird’s eye view which features on rival MultiMap, Street View gives a similar image to what you could see standing in the street yourself.

The problem for privacy campaigners is that this gives an unprecedented level of visual detail in which individuals can be seen, if not personally identified. For example, in this shot of my previous address you can clearly see my neighbor, the patch of ground where builders spilled cement outside my house and, most interestingly for the local council, clear evidence that several householders including the occupants of number 7 had breached rules on leaving refuse bins in alleyways.

Google says the photos do not break any privacy laws as they are all taken using a vehicle which was located on public property. It also believes that blurring out faces and license plates is enough to keep within the law and says the Information Commissioner’s Office (Britain’s privacy watchdog) backs this view.

However, campaign group Privacy International says the fact Google is using the images for commercial purposes means simply taking the photographs in the first place is illegal without the permission of everyone in the shot, whether or not they are later blurred out. The group says the ICO did not consider this point when condoning Street View.

The timing of the launch doesn’t help Google’s case. Earlier this week the company was in the news when a British court heard that a burglar had stolen a total of £100,000 worth of lead from roofs after researching potential targets by looking for darker patches on the Google map aerial view.

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