Google's controversial Street View service has today launched in the UK, providing online users with a virtual tour of 25 mapped cities, and 360-degree views of the nation's streets.
Street View, accessible via Google Maps, utilises thousands of images taken by camera-equipped Google Street View cars. Having launched in the US back in May 2007, the service has been subject to intense criticism from privacy campaigners.
Taking live pictures of the nation's streets, Google Street View provides high-quality close-ups of people, cars and buildings, leading many to claim that the service could be put to use by criminals.
In an effort to ease concerns, Google states that Street View "only contains imagery gathered on public property," and has implemented face-recognition technology to automatically blur people's faces and car registration plates.
Google's Street View cars, estimated to have travelled nearly 23,000 miles in the past year, have provided detailed views of streets in the following cities: Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Coventry, Derby, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Scunthorpe, Sheffield, Southampton, Swansea and York.
What do you think of Google Street View? Is it an invasion of privacy, or is it making the best of modern technology? Share your thoughts in the HEXUS.community forums.
