Every Brighton street to be photographed and put on the web (From The Argus)

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Every Brighton street to be photographed and put on the web

7:00am Friday 20th March 2009 in News By Richard Gurner

SPOTTED: The Google car in Saltdean yesterday

How would you feel if you Googled your home address and were confronted with a picture of yourself putting out the rubbish or bleary-eyed at the kitchen window?

That is the reality facing every resident in Brighton and Hove after a service which allows people to zoom in on images of people's front doors launched in the city.

Google Street View was unveiled in 25 locations across the country yesterday (THUR) meaning instant access to views of millions of UK streets.

And The Argus can reveal Brighton is next on the list after the Google team were spotted yesterday taking pictures in Saltdean.

Every street, road, avenue and close will be snapped by the cameras, which are mounted on the top of an unmarked car.

The service, which will mean eye-level images of every city street will be available online, has come under fire from privacy campaign groups who claim the service could even help burglars identify targets.

Other concerns photographing people emerging from places of worship, health clinics or even being snapped with mistresses.

When the application was launched in the United States within hours bloggers posted images of people, their faces visible, being arrested, sunbathing and urinating in public.

Related links

Google Streetview

Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, argued that the company should have sought the consent of the communities it was photographing before launching the service and vowed to fight the service until it was taken down.

Des Turner, Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown, added that there was “a potential for the invasion of privacy.”

He added: “The ability to do things sometimes comes before the debate about whether they are the right things to do.”

A Google spokeswoman said the UK weather had delayed the unveiling, but added: “We have got a long way to go but if you have seen the car, you can safely assume that Brighton will be one of the cities to feature soon.”

She also said the company “built privacy controls into our product from the ground up”.

The spokeswoman added: “Where faces are identifiable we will blur them out as well as licence plates.

“Also if you are a user and you are unhappy with an image, if you don't want your house on there, we've put a button on there so you can remove it.”

The spokeswoman added that concerns about burglars using the service to check potential targets were unfounded and that the company had been working with the Metropolitan Police, who she said did not believe there would be an increased risk of burglary to houses featured on street view.

She said: “It's very easy to blame new technology but it's the criminals that are responsible for the crime, not the technology.”

Alan Haffenden, from the Sussex Police Crime Prevention Team, said: “Google clearly state that their Street View facility only features photographs taken on public property and that they are no different from what any person can readily see or capture when they are walking down a street.

“Therefore, we do not envisage there being any crime prevention issues.”

The Information Commissioner’s office was consulted by Google about its plans, and gave approval for the launch. Lawyers doubt any legal action could succeed.

Comments(49)

magoo says...
7:08am Fri 20 Mar 09

“Google clearly state that their Street View facility only features photographs taken on public property and that they are no different from what any person can readily see or capture when they are walking down a street."

No but most people's photo's won't be available to all and sundry. What if you don't want certain people to know where you are? What if you are part of witness protection?