12 September 2007

Google's Street View 'could be illegal in Canada'

Canada's privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart has been raising concerns over Google's new Street View application.

According to Ms Stoddart, the photo function, which was launched by Google in May, may run the risk of contravening Canada's privacy laws.

Although not yet available in the country, the application has been expanding in its neighbour, the US.

The service allows its users to navigate around certain areas at street level, viewing images that were captured previously and are stored by Google.

In a letter to David Drummond, the search engine's senior vice-president of corporate development and chief legal officer, Ms Stoddart expressed her reservations.

The main issue identified by the commissioner was the availability of images of people contained in the application, which, she said, are of sufficient resolution to allow individuals to be identified.

She commented: "I am concerned that, if the Street View application were deployed in Canada, it might not comply with our federal privacy legislation.

"In particular, it does not appear to meet the basic requirements of knowledge, consent, and limited collection and use as set out in the legislation."

Ms Stoddart added that a feature which allows viewers to request the removal of particular images is "only a partial solution", since individuals may not be aware that images relating to them are on the application.

As well as Street View, Google recently added an up-to-date traffic information service to its maps.

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