Google Street View images removed after privacy complaints

Published on Friday 20 March 2009 12:49

SCORES of pictures were removed from Google's controversial new mapping application today after a glut of privacy complaints.

Street View, launched in the UK yesterday, allows users to access 360-degree views of roads and homes in 25 cities.

The database, which includes photographs of millions of residential addresses, people and cars, has led to concerns about privacy infringement, forcing Google to remove offending pictures.

The images removed include one of a man emerging from a sex shop in London's Soho district and another of a man being sick on the pavement outside a pub in east London.

Unveiling the project yesterday, developers said they were keen to respect individual privacy and would "act quickly" to remove pictures deemed to breach privacy or display inappropriate content.

Sophisticated technology has been developed to automatically obscure the faces of people featured in Street View photographs, and car registration plates have been blurred, but such efforts have failed to quieten critics, with many labelling the maps voyeuristic and intrusive.

A spokeswoman for Google could not confirm the exact number of images removed but said it had been "less than expected".

She said: "When we launched yesterday we explained how importantly we take privacy and we explained how easy it is to remove pictures.

"We have received a few removals in the last 24 hours but it is less than expected.

"The tools are there for users to remove pictures they are not happy with – that is the point of having the icon at the bottom of each image.

"We are pleased that the tools we developed are working well."

The firm has also received a number of compliments about the maps, the spokeswoman said, adding: "We have had lots of people asking when we will be going to their street."

At the bottom of each photograph featured on the application is a link which users can follow to "report a concern" to Google.

Individuals who do not wish to be featured in images or want their home to be taken off the database can register their objections by filling in an online form.

Ed Parsons, Google's geospatial technologist, said yesterday: "If people do not want their homes featured, we will take them down, or cut them out of the image.

"We have a dedicated team whose job is to look at these pictures if there are any concerns. It is something that happens very rarely but nevertheless it is very important for us to have this tool so that if there are any concerns, the pictures can be easily removed."

He added: "The images you see on Street View are the same images you would see if you were to walk or drive down the road yourself.

"It gives you a much better sense of what it really feels like to be in a city."