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Google's pictures of UK go live

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    Google's pictures of UK go live

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7952317.stm

    Google has launched the UK version of its Street View service, which allows users to browse a selection of pictures taken along city streets.

    Street scenes in 25 UK cities from Aberdeen to Southampton can be viewed using the service.

    The Netherlands version of the service also launched on Thursday, bringing the number of countries covered to nine.

    The imagery available comprises video taken along 22,369 miles of UK streets by customised camera cars.

    Google Maps users can zoom in to a given location and then drag the "Pegman" icon above the zoom bar on to a given street.

    A picture view of that street appears, which users can control to get a 360-degree view of the area or to progress on street level, throughout the city.

    Google says it has gone to great lengths to ensure privacy, suggesting that the service only shows imagery already visible from public thoroughfares.

    It also uses face recognition technology to blur out faces and licence plates that appear in the images.

    UK CITIES ON STREET VIEW
    Aberdeen
    Belfast
    Birmingham
    Bradford
    Bristol
    Cambridge
    Cardiff
    Coventry
    Derby
    Dundee
    Edinburgh
    Glasgow
    Leeds
    Liverpool
    London
    Oxford
    Manchester
    Newcastle
    Norwich
    Nottingham
    Scunthorpe
    Sheffield
    Southampton
    Swansea
    York



    'Slipped halo'

    The Information Commissioner's Office ruled in 2008 that the face- and licence plate-blurring were sufficient to ensure that privacy was maintained.

    However, Simon Davies of Privacy International says that existing case law suggests that images for commercial purposes cannot be taken without prior consent of those who appear in the images.

    The ICO did not rule on that point in 2008, meaning that the law on privacy protection remains unclear. Mr Davies objects to the fact that "Google had not consulted with the very communities that it was about to capture" in order to address that issue.

    "The Holy Grail is to know as much as possible but to protect to the greatest extent privacy rights. Google's halo has slipped for the very reason that it believes in the first part of the equation but not in the second," he told BBC News.

    However, Mr Davies does not object to the Street View service altogether.

    "We're not trying to destroy the concept of Street View, what we're saying is that it should be deployed in an environment of historic rights, and people shouldn't be seduced into believing that just because a technology appears to be cool it must be allowed to proceed."

    A Google spokesperson countered: "The images in Street View are lawful. The Street View feature only contains imagery gathered on public property. The imagery is no different from what any person can readily capture or see walking down the street."

    What is more, the service provides "easily accessible tools for flagging inappropriate or sensitive imagery for review and removal".

    Among Google's partners in the venture is Tate, who have worked with Google to integrate precise locations in the UK associated with artworks by JMW Turner and John Constable, which can then be viewed alongside their real-world locations.

    Other partners have selected a gallery of images to showcase the UK's attractions.

    London mayor Boris Johnson said: "It is simply fascinating, even for a Londoner like me, to whiz over Westminster Bridge past the Houses of Parliament, soak up the majesty of Regent's Park, take in the stupendous views from Primrose Hill or simply wander around the streets near where I live."

    Also, hidden among the images is the popular children's book character Wally - of striped-jumper Where's Wally? fame - in one UK location.

    #2
    cool just 'walked' past my office

    Comment


      #3
      Very cool...
      ‎"See, you think I give a tulip. Wrong. In fact, while you talk, I'm thinking; How can I give less of a tulip? That's why I look interested."

      Comment


        #4
        I found my car parked in West London. That means it must have been a Thursday.

        Comment


          #5
          my house is on there

          i wonder who's car that is in the driveway, parked next to the wife's. on a weekday...hmmm, curious.

          "Keep them at 24,000"
          "No, feet"

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by TCL View Post
            my house is on there

            i wonder who's car that is in the driveway, parked next to the wife's. on a weekday...hmmm, curious.
            Do you live in West London?

            Comment


              #7
              OK, so which CUK regular is this?

              http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03...et_view_vomit/

              "Keep them at 24,000"
              "No, feet"

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by TCL View Post


                I used to work in Curtain Road......

                Comment


                  #9
                  Is anyone having the same problem as me?

                  I can follow streets so far and then the yellow line stopps dead despite the inset map showing the blue stripe either side of the road in front. Even if I move the orange man marker further up the road the image stays put.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by bellymonster View Post
                    Is anyone having the same problem as me?

                    I can follow streets so far and then the yellow line stopps dead despite the inset map showing the blue stripe either side of the road in front. Even if I move the orange man marker further up the road the image stays put.
                    Have you tried zooming the map in really close? For example, here at the junction of St Martin's Lane and William IV Street you can't actually travel the last few yards to Charing Cross Road without carrying the little man there yourself; but at all but the highest zoom level of the map, it appears that the blue line carries on all the way to the junction.

                    Another thing that might cause what you describe: on Edgware High Street, the southbound carriageway photos come to an abrupt halt just before The Change of Hart pub; however, if you again zoom right in and carry the little chap over to the northbound side of the dual carriageway, the photos continue on that side. However, the first move southward from that position appears to put one back on the southbound carriageway, once more at the end of the line - you have to position him a few yards further south than that

                    Other than that, the only way we can tell if we're having the same problem is if you tell us where you mean, unless we explore every single street ourselves

                    Comment

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