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Google Street View

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Google Street View
Initial releaseMay 25, 2007
Stable release
Android2.0.0.387140768 / August 9, 2021; 2 years ago (2021-08-09)[1]
iOS2.17.3 / May 17, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-05-17)[2]
OnlineRelease 299 (see list) / November 7, 2023; 8 months ago (2023-11-07)
Available inEnglish, French
WebsiteGoogle Maps

Google Street View is a feature of Google Maps and Google Earth that provides for many streets in the world 360° horizontal and 290° vertical panoramic views from a row of positions along the street (one in every 10 or 20 metres, or so), from a height of about two metres. It was launched on May 25, 2007, and has gradually expanded to include more cities, and in these cities more streets, and also some rural areas. These photographs are currently available for countries including United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Coverage is shown by dragging "pegman" from its position, on a map of any scale.

Google Street View displays photos taken from a fleet of Chevrolet Cobalts in North America, Opel Astras in continental Europe and Australia, Vauxhall Astras in the United Kingdom and Toyota Prius cars in Japan. Pedestrian areas, narrow streets and park alleys that cannot be accessed by car are not always covered. However, sometimes Google Bikes are used.[3] On each of these cars (and bikes) 9 directional cameras for the 360° views, GPS units for positioning, Laser Range Finders for the measuring of buildings and 3G/Wi-Fi aerials for whereabouts on 3G and Wi-Fi hotspots are all mounted.[4]

Where available street view images appear after zooming in beyond the highest zooming level in maps and satellite images, and also by dragging "pegman" to some position. Using the keyboard or mouse the horizontal and vertical viewing direction and the zoom level can be selected. A straight or broken line in the photo shows the approximate path followed by the camera car; two arrows link to the next photo in each direction. At junctions and crossings of camera car routes, more arrows are shown.

On November 21, 2008, Street View was added to the Maps application installed on Apple's iPhone. On December 10, 2008, Street View was added to the Maps application for S60 3rd Edition. Street view has now also been added to the Windows Mobile version of Google Maps. All versions of Google Maps for Android feature street view, and the digital compass can be used to look around the locations.

Development

Note: Bold means which locations are available in High Quality view, and italic bold indicates which locations are partially available in High Quality view. Template:GSVadditions

Google Street View was first introduced in the United States on May 25, 2007, and until November 26, 2008, featured camera icon markers, each representing at least one major city or area (such as a park), and usually the other nearby cities, towns, suburbs, and parks. Many areas that had coverage were not represented by icons.

  • On July 2, 2008, Google Street View was introduced in France and Italy, providing the first service outside the United States. On this day, 19 camera icons were added, mostly showing small towns and areas along the Tour de France route and part of north western Italy
  • On August 4, 2008, Australia and Japan were added to Google Street View. On this day, 28 icons were added, featuring major metropolitan areas of Japan as well as the bulk of Australia. Included in the update were approximately 40 new U.S. hub cities.
  • On December 1, 2008, New Zealand was added to Google Street View. Faces were blurred upon recommendation by the New Zealand Privacy Commission, but vehicle registration plates were not obscured.
  • Two other features included in the June 10, 2008 update were an effective mask of the "Google" car and the application of face-blurring technology on all photos, which effectively lowered the resolution across all photos, even the formerly impressive high resolution images of San Francisco. Also, many nearby metro areas were included, but they did not receive their own camera icons. Google initially used images from spherical video company Immersive Media as well as their own vehicles. Since December 2007, Google has used imagery that belongs exclusively to Google.
  • On 26 November 2008, the Street View Button and all the camera icon were deleted. Instead of clicking the "Street View" button, you can now click on the "pegman" button in the left hand corner. If you drag "pegman" over the map and where Street View is available the blue polylines will appear on the map and a small window will show the current Street View. If you drop "pegman" on the map the Street View opens and takes over the whole map window.
  • On April 9, 2009 Street View is available full-screen option.


By location

File:Google street view.JPG
Countries where Google Street View is available

Google Street View was first introduced in the United States on May 25, 2007, and only covered areas of the United States until July 2, 2008. As of today, images can be seen in seven countries (although parts of other countries can be seen from locations located near national borders; for example, large portions of Vatican City can be viewed from Rome's streetview). Introductions have generally occurred every 2 days to 3 months. Up until November 26, 2008, major cities (and early on, the only cities) were marked by camera icons, more of which were added each time. Then, all camera icons were discontinued in favor simply of "blue" coverage.

United States

The United States was the first country to have Street View images and was the only country with images for over a year following introduction. Early on, most locations had a limited number of views, usually constrained to the city limits and only including major streets, and they only showed the buildings up to a certain height. Few suburbs or other nearby cities were included.

After the first few sets of introductions, image collections from cities added were more detailed, often including every side street, especially in areas closer to the center of the city. More suburbs and other nearby cities were included.

The views of cities added on one date have also been improved frequently on a later date, sometimes a date in which no additional cities were added. These have included the additions of streets in neighborhoods where previously only main roads had been covered, expansions to more suburbs, and views to the sky where previously only views to a certain height were provided.

Initially when a group of cities were added, only those cities and their own suburbs would be a part of the image collection. But June 10, 2008 introductions also included cities in covered areas without camera icons and isolated from any other camera icons. Many more cities were added without icons on August 4, when the only U.S. city added with an icon was New Orleans.

On November 4, 2008, three more U.S. cities were added: Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Seattle. More parts of Seattle are available in high quality view (like Mercer Island and center of the city).

On December 9, 2008, extensive coverage of the United States was added. This included full coverage of all large and most medium-sized urban areas and most major highways and connecting arteries throughout the 48 contiguous states.

On March 18, 2009, extensive coverage of the United States was added including most of the coverage of Delaware, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and South Dakota. For a period of time some coverage was deleted (such as in northern Minnesota.)

The only state as of this date that does not have coverage is Hawaii.

Europe

Google´s StreetView Camera Car in Berlin, Germany in June 2008

The first views anywhere outside the United States were introduced on July 2, 2008, when the Tour de France route was added. Nineteen camera icons, each indicating part of a French city or town and Cuneo, Italy were included.

On October 14, 2008, camera icons were introduced in six French cities, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris, Toulouse. At the same time, all other icons that had been introduced in France on July 2, as well as the one of Cuneo, Italy, were removed, representing the first time in Street View's history that a camera icon that once marked a place was removed. But the amount of coverage that France had since July 2 was not diminished.

On October 27, 2008, four Spanish metropolitan areas were added to the list of growing street view locations in Europe. These include Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Valencia.

On October 29, 2008, Italy received four camera icons for the localities of Florence, Milan, Rome, and Lake Como.

On March 18, 2009, United Kingdom and Netherlands images were added.

Asia

Google´s Street View Camera Car in Taipei, Taiwan in March 2009

Japan was also introduced on August 4, 2008. Japan's coverage is currently concentrated in five areas with a total of 10 camera icons. The service has faced criticisms from some in Japan of cultural insensitivity.[5]

Google Street View camera cars were visible in the streets of Singapore on October 2008. Google has confirmed the fact that the Google Street View would be coming to Singapore a few months later. [6]

As of March 2009 the Google Street View camera car was also seen roaming the streets of Taipei, Taiwan.

Oceania

On August 4, 2008, the long-anticipated image collection of Australia was introduced. At this time, the bulk of Australia was included in detail, with 18 camera icons. Extensive mapping of New Zealand was included on December 1, 2008. On December 9, 2008 Darwin, Australia and other locations were included.

Areas included

This list is not comprehensive as Google is adding new locations regularly.

Template:GSVtable

Future

German Google Cars at Rin Grand Hotel in Bucharest, Romania (December 14, 2008)

Google has stated that its ultimate goal is to provide street views of the entire world, although the company has not disclosed in advance the exact dates when any particular locations will be added.[7]

In the more immediate future, Google plans to release Street View for various Canadian cities, but modified so that faces and license plates are blurred, due to concerns raised by Canada's federal privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart about the program breaching Canadian privacy laws.[8]

In April 2008, Google Street View cars were spotted in Italy with Sick AG LIDAR system added to the scanning array on the car. These would be used for gathering 3D data as well as images.[9]

Country/Region Locations Citation
 Austria All major cities [10][11]
 Belgium All places [12][13]
 Canada All major cities [14]
 Czech Republic Prague [15][16][17]
 Denmark All major cities [18]
 Finland All major cities [19][20][21]
 France All places [22]
 Germany All places [23][24][25]
 Greece Athens [26][27]
 Hong Kong All places [28]
 Ireland All major cities [29]
 Italy All places [30][31][32]
 Japan All places [33]
 Mexico All major cities [34][35]
 Netherlands All places [36]
 Portugal All major cities [37][38]
 Romania Bucharest [39][40][41]
 Singapore All places [42]
 Spain All places [43][44][45]
  Switzerland All major cities [46]
 Taiwan Taipei [47]
 United Kingdom All places [48][49][50]

Privacy issues

Privacy advocates have objected to this Google feature, pointing to views found to show men leaving strip clubs, protesters at an abortion clinic, sunbathers in bikinis, cottagers at public parks, parents hitting their children, males picking up prostitutes, and people engaging in activities visible from public property in which they do not wish to be seen publicly.[51] Google maintains that the photos were taken from public property. Before launching the service, Google removed photos of domestic violence shelters, and it allows users to flag inappropriate or sensitive imagery for Google to review and remove.[52] When the service was first launched, the process for requesting that an image be removed was not trivial,[53] but Google has changed its policy to make removal more straightforward.[54] Images of potential break-ins, sunbathers, and individuals entering adult bookstores have, however, remained active and these images have been widely republished.[55][56]

In Europe, the creation of Google Street View may not be legal in all jurisdictions. Some European countries have laws prohibiting the filming without consent of an individual on public property for the purpose of public display.[57]

United States

One of Google's responses to concerns about privacy laws outside the United States has been a pledge to blur the faces of people who are filmed. Google began blurring faces on 13 May 2008[58] and the images published since then, including the first launch of images in Europe on 2 July 2008, have all used face blurring.

Google delayed the release of its street views of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area following concern expressed by the United States Department of Homeland Security that some of the images taken might be of security-sensitive areas.[59]

The Pentagon has banned Google from publishing Street View content of U.S. Military bases and asked Google to remove existing content of bases. Google has complied with this order.[60]

Some parents have expressed concern over Street View compromising the security of their children.[61]

Aaron and Christine Boring, a Pittsburgh couple, sued Google for "invasion of privacy". Street View made a photo of their home available online, and they claimed that this diminished the value of their house, which they had chosen for its privacy.[62] They lost their case in a Pennsylvania court. "While it is easy to imagine that many whose property appears on Google's virtual maps resent the privacy implications, it is hard to believe that any – other than the most exquisitely sensitive – would suffer shame or humiliation," Judge Hay ruled.[63]

Some cities in the United States where all streets are privately owned have asked Google to remove Street View images because their consent was not given. North Oaks, Minnesota may have been the first. In that case, Google complied.[64]

Australia

In 2007, Google pledged not to identify faces or number plates in Australia.[65] However, as of March 2009, it is still possible to view both.[66][67]

Japan

In Japan, Google Street View started in August 2008 and was made available for ten Japanese Prefectures in February 2009. The available Street View areas depicted residential and business areas, and showed the faces of pedestrians, displayed vehicle registration plates, and the name plate of a family residence (表札, Hyōsatsu) - Google's decision to show these has led to disputes. Local governments, lawyers and individuals claimed Google was violating privacy.[68] On 3 February 2009, Google Japan representatives attended a meeting about privacy concerns held at a Tokyo Metropolitan Government facility, and agreed that privacy issues had not been adequately considered. Google pledged that, before taking photographs for Street View, they would in future notify the provinces' local government. Google Japan admitted that notifications and explanations of this kind had already been taking place in countries other than Japan, but had not done so in Japan as they were not aware of the potential privacy concerns.[69]

United Kingdom

Street View Car near Howden, East Yorkshire

In the first days of launch the UK service drew criticism due to privacy.[70] Images were found of a man leaving a sex shop, a man vomiting and another man being arrested. Some images were removed including those surrounding Downing Street.[71][72]

The service drew criticism in Belfast that it represented a "reckless" security risk, particularly for showing the exteriors of army bases and police stations so soon after the killing of two soldiers in the 2009 Massereene Barracks shooting, and a police officer.[73]

Soon after the launch human rights watchdog Privacy International sent a formal complaint about the service to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which cited more than 200 reports from members of the public who were identifiable on Street View images. Privacy International director Simon Davies said that the organisation had filed the complaint due to the "clear embarrassment and damage" Street View had caused to many Britons. He said that Street View fell short of the assurances given by Google to the ICO in July 2008 that had enabled its launch, namely that privacy would be protected by blurring faces and vehicle licence plates, and asked for the system to be "switched off" while an investigation was completed. He said the few cases where Google's face blurring system had failed meant the data used by Street View would fall under UK Data Protection legislation, which requires that subjects give permission for the use of information concerning them.[74]

Davies subsequently sent an open letter to Google chief executive Eric Schmidt, accusing the company of briefing journalists against him, claiming Davies was biased in favor of Microsoft. Google has pointed to connections between Microsoft and data protection consultancy 80/20 Thinking, run by Davies, and has said that Davies' connections to Microsoft should be made clear in public, as the credibility of his criticisms is undermined by the fact that he acts as a consultant to companies who are direct rivals and critics of Google; a fact Davies rarely discloses in press releases or comments.[75]

On 3 April 2009, it was reported in the press that residents of the village of Broughton in Buckinghamshire formed a human barrier to stop a Google car from photographing the village,[76] expressing fears that it was "invading [the villagers'] privacy" and "facilitating crime."[77] As also reported in the press, contrary reactions have come from some Internet users, who have called on people to "descend on the village to snap their own perfectly legal photographs."[78]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Google Street View". APKMirror. Android Police. March 11, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  2. ^ "Google Street View on the App Store". App Store. Apple Inc. March 11, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  3. ^ googlemaps bike on Flickr
  4. ^ A couple of thoughts on Street View « Rotacoo
  5. ^ Japan and Google Street View, special coverage page at Global Voices Online.
  6. ^ Google Street View Coming To Singapore
  7. ^ Twelve New Cities To See In Street View | WebProNews
  8. ^ Weeks, Carly (September 24, 2007). "Google's Street View blurred by Canadian privacy concerns. As of April 18th Google cars have been spotted around southern Ontario including Mississauga and downtown Toronto". CanWest News Service. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
  9. ^ Google Street View - Soon in 3D? at Educating Silicon
  10. ^ GoogleWatchBlog - Google Streetview Auto in Wien gesichtet
  11. ^ "Google Street View Car on Flickr - Photo Sharing!". 47.784124; 13.071584: Flickr.com. Retrieved 2009-04-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  12. ^ Google ontkent lancering Street View in België - Knack.be
  13. ^ deredactie.be - Videozone
  14. ^ "Google alerts Canadians about Street View filming". Cbc.ca. 2009-03-26. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  15. ^ "Google Street View auto míří do Prahy - Design ASP.net". Design ASP.net. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  16. ^ Automobil Google Street View bude již brzy jezdit a fotit v ulicích Prahy
  17. ^ "Google Street View Internet service to map Prague - press - ČeskéNoviny.cz". Ceskenoviny.cz. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  18. ^ "Smil - Google fotograferer Danmark fra i dag - dr.dk/P3/P3 Nyheder". Dr.dk. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  19. ^ "Artikkeli". vartti.fi. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  20. ^ "Google Street View is going to look like shit in Helsinki « Deceptive Cadence". Deceptivecadence.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  21. ^ "New workers for Street View Finland". blogoscoped.com. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
  22. ^ Google Maps - Google Street View en France
  23. ^ Google fotografiert BerlinGoogles Foto-Orgie
  24. ^ Google Street View in Hamburg? Hab ich was verpasst? - (mit hacksause)
  25. ^ Googles Foto-Orgie
  26. ^ Google Street View : direction la Grèce et la République tchèque
  27. ^ Αναρτήθηκε από The acrobats. "Στους δρόμους της Αθήνας «ξεχύνεται» τις επόμενες ημέρες το Street View της Google". GREECE-SALONIKA.blogspot. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  28. ^ Google Street View in Hong Kong :: ASM
  29. ^ Smith, Gordon (2009-03-14). "Google takes to the streets to show the way to go in Ireland". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
  30. ^ [News] Google Street view: Dopo le grandi città ecco anche Cagliari - Software Upgrade
  31. ^ DSC_5895 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
  32. ^ Google Car avvistata a L’Aquila e Pescara (aggiornato) « Morg4n’s Bay
  33. ^ "Google Streetview Japan Car Seen in Okinawa and More New Places". October 16, 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  34. ^ Avistamiento de uno de los autos con cámara de Google Stree View en la Ciudad de México
  35. ^ Picasa - Alejandro - Mis Fotos par
  36. ^ Google kijkt mee in Amsterdam en Rotterdam
  37. ^ Google inicia recolha de imagens de cidades portuguesas para o Street View do Maps (rtp.pt)
  38. ^ A minha rua está no metro (Metro newspaper, Apr.15, 2009)
  39. ^ Google pregateste Street View pentru Bucuresti « Simon Says: Bute, l-a facut KO pe Zuniga in 4 runde!
  40. ^ Google car street view in Bucuresti ? » Blogul lui CTI97
  41. ^ "Maşina Google Street View, văzută din nou în Bucureşti? - Cotidianul". Cotidianul.ro. 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  42. ^ Google Street View Cars Spotted in Singapore
  43. ^ El coche de Google, cazado en Palma | elmundo.es
  44. ^ Google viaja por Málaga | málagahoy.es
  45. ^ Fotos de los coches de Google Street View en Bilbao, Zaragoza y Oviedo | http://google.dirson.com
  46. ^ Google camera cars have started gathering street-level photos in Switzerland. - swissinfo
  47. ^ Google Street View cars in Taiwan - Google Blogoscoped Forum
  48. ^ British privacy group aims to roadblock Google's Street View - The INQUIRER
  49. ^ Evening Telegraph: News
  50. ^ Liverpool Daily Post, July 21, 2008
  51. ^ MacDonald, Calum (June 4, 2007). "Google's Street View site raises alarm over privacy". The Herald. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
  52. ^ Mills, Elinor (June 3, 2007). "Google's street-level maps raising privacy concerns". USA Today. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
  53. ^ "Google Waffles on Street View Takedown Policy". Dr. Dobb's Portal. June 15, 2007.
  54. ^ "Google Lets You Remove People from Street View". Google Operating System. August 26, 2007. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
  55. ^ "Google Street View: Accidental Online Community or Real Invasion of Privacy?". Web Urbanist. June 8, 2007.
  56. ^ Google Street View: Examples of interesting street views.
  57. ^ Google's Street View could be unlawful in Europe | OUT-LAW.COM
  58. ^ Google begins blurring faces in Street View
  59. ^ Pull up a chair for a walking tour | The Providence Journal
  60. ^ "Pentagon bans Google teams from bases". Reuters. 2008-03-06. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
  61. ^ Fox 6 Now | Google Street View Upsets Some Parents
  62. ^ "Couple Sues Google Over "Street View"". The Smoking Gun. Retrieved 2008-04-04. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  63. ^ "Google wins Street View privacy case". The Guardian. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-19. An American couple who attempted to sue Google over what they claimed was its "privacy invading" Street View technology have lost their case in a Pennsylvania court. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  64. ^ Pabst, Lora (May 31, 2008). "North Oaks tells Google Maps: Keep out - we mean it". Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
  65. ^ "Google unveils Street View across Australia". news.com.au. 2008-08-05. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  66. ^ "Google Street View told: keep off, private". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2008-08-07. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  67. ^ "Google takes a risky road with privacy". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2008-08-06. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
  68. ^ "Japan: Debate over Google Street View continues". Global Voices. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
  69. ^ Yomiuri Shimbun(Japanese edition), 2009-02-04 Ver.13S page 28
  70. ^ Images Get Pulled From Google Street View In First Week Of Service
  71. ^ BBC NEWS | Google's pictures of UK go live
  72. ^ BBC NEWS | Google pulls some street images
  73. ^ BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Google 'reckless' on NI security
  74. ^ "Call to 'shut down' Street View". BBC News. 24 March 2009. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  75. ^ "Google 'trying to smear Street View critic'", Belfast Telegraph, 28 March 2009, retrieved 2009-04-01
  76. ^ A very English revolt sees off Google's spies Mail Online
  77. ^ Raid-fear villagers halt Google Street View Car, The Sun online, 03/04/2009
  78. ^ Watch out Broughton! Street View fans plan to descend on 'privacy' village for photo fest, Mail Online, 04/04/2009

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Google Street View.


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