Google Street View Privacy Concerns Migrate to Canada

The controversial Google Street View application allows users to pinpoint and search street level video images of select U.S. cities. Some videos have shown recognizable faces and interiors of dwellings and thus, privacy concerns have been raised and widely discussed. Now the Canadian Privacy Commissioner has raised concerns about Google Street View which may, in the future, begin featuring Canadian cities.

The program’s potential risks have prompted the privacy commissioner to send letters this week to Google — and the Canadian company that has been providing some of the photographs — outlining her concerns and seeking an explanation over whether sufficient precautions and safeguards are in place to protect privacy.

“The problem is it’s a slippery slope when it comes to privacy rights,” said Colin McKay, spokesman for the federal privacy commissioner’s office. “You can read house numbers and see street signs. You can clearly see facial characteristics.”

Unlike other mapping programs, which use grainy satellite images, the new street-view program allows users to view crisp photographs of pedestrians, homes, businesses and traffic taken from the street level. Many of the photographs are believed to have been taken using high-resolution video cameras mounted on cars as they drive through cities.

Google said it places a high priority on privacy and is not doing anything wrong.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, and here is a video - originally a report on CBS Evening News - on Google Street View:

Mashable has coined the term StreetSpotting, and numerous other blogs and websites post users’ favorite Street View shots. If you find yourself on Google Street View and want to be removed, here’s the procedure.