Dec 14, 2007

Earlier this week, Google launched its Street View feature in six more metropolitan areas, including Boston, Dallas and Detroit. The voyeuristic tool allows you to use Google Maps to zoom in on panoramic street-level scenes that have been compiled from photographs. It's one of those technologies that you need to see to appreciate -- check out the Media Vault for a campy Google video that explains how it works. 

I recently used it myself to get a peek at an unfamiliar neighborhood we were considering moving into and it did a fairly amazing job of showing whether or not it looked like the type of place I'd consider calling home. But while there's an undeniable cool factor associated with Street View, not everyone is feeling the love.

Since it first launched in May, privacy advocates have expressed concerns that Street View puts individuals' privacy at risk by capturing images of them without their knowledge. There's the ironic example of Electronic Frontier Foundation staff attorney Kevin Bankston getting nabbed smoking a cigarette by Street View in San Francisco (a habit he had not divulged to certain loved ones). Google responded by allowing users to request that photos of themselves be removed.

The fact is it's legal in the U.S. for Google to include photos, even of you, that are taken in public. However, Google's senior privacy counsel Jane Horvath acknowledged last month that the company will need to blur images of individuals and license plates before introducing Street View in Europe, Canada and other countries where privacy regulations are more stringent.

She left the door open for doing the same in the U.S. in the future, if users demand it. According to The Boston Globe, so far, the company has only been contacted by about two dozen people who've asked to have their photo removed from Street View. Google Maps product manager Stephen Chau said, critics aside, that the "biggest complaint [by consumers] is the service isn't available in their city yet."

The real test is likely yet to come. As Street View pops up in more U.S. cities -- the current tally exceeds 20 -- and its competitors gain more traction, we'll see if concerns about privacy grow or if it becomes commonplace to hear that you were spotted on the street.

Tags: Google, Privacy, Street View