Google Street View expands to cover '95% of UK'

Google Street View, the web search giant's controversial mapping application, has been expanded to cover almost the entirety of the UK's road network. Now more than 95% of the country as normally seen by car is viewable for anyone to see online, and users could - if they so wished - walk virtually from Land's End to John O'Groats. Coverage in some other countries has also reached a comparable figure.

A lot of people, it would seem, are not happy about this; a recent survey of around 1,300 people found that 57% regarded the street mapping service as an ‘intrusion' while 24% thought it ‘a service for burglars’. And many said that they were most angered by the fact they have not given permission for the publication of images.

Street View has aroused mixed feelings ever since its launch, with some lauding its role as an enabler of 'virtual' tourism while others - as witnessed in the aforementioned survey - voicing fears over security. Some in Milton Keynes were so concerned at the apparent facilitation of crime last year that police had to be called out when they blocked the path of a Google car in the Broughton area of the city.

It might be a little hard to sympathise with those who object to their lack of consultation before filming; given that photographs for the project are all taken from public rights of way nothing is available that cannot already be seen in situ. Conceding to such demands could also have huge implications for anyone filming or taking photographs in public spaces.

And so far fears that criminals and burglars may use the programme to scout for easy pickings have not been vindicated in any recorded court case or police report. The small possibility that such data could be misused at some point in the future has also been addressed; Google has incorporated within its programme the ability for residents to blur properties should they so wish.

Street View's expansion in the UK is, on the whole, a welcome one; not only does it offer the opportunity for unparalleled exploration for the armchair traveller, it also affords the chance to hunt for Hogarthian images of modern British life to tempt even the most cynically-inclined internet user. Those who firmly want to live out of sight of Google's lens might want to consider setting up home in a place where someone in the street can't already see them anyway.