Google Street View blurs faces in privacy bid
Google has announced it is to begin using face-blurring technology on its Street View photographic city mapping service.
The system, which automatically obscures the identities of pedestrians by using advanced face detection technology, comes in response to criticism of Street View over instances of personal privacy infringement.
The Street View project is currently photographing numerous cities at street level in countries including the US, Australia and Italy.
Previously, the only way for people who had been caught on the Street View cameras to get their image removed was to contact Google and make a removal request - though the fact that many were unaware that they had even been photographed was likely to present problems for Europe’s more stringent privacy laws.
The new face blurring technique will not only be used on all new photography; it will also be applied retroactively to existing database images.
Google Street View: Facial Blur
Street View photos, taken by specially equipped cars mounted with 360 degree cameras, have previously caused controversy for taking pictures including people in their own houses, men apparently leaving strip clubs and women sunbathing in parks.
Google has defended itself against critics, citing that in the year since the service was launched it has only received a handful of privacy complaints from the 40 US cities it has mapped - which facial blurring and other measures should further reduce.
Dr Dan Svantesson of the Australian Privacy Foundation commented that while Google has “certainly taken some steps in the right direction…. there is certainly more that can be done.”
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