The Streets of Shepherd's Bush Go On-Line

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Street View is latest feature launched by Google Earth

This week saw the launch of Google Street View, the latest feature of Google Maps and Google Earth that provides 360° horizontal and 290° vertical panoramic street level views and allows users to view their own homes and surrounding area ground level.

It was first launched on May 25, 2007 featuring just five American cities. It has since expanded to thousands of locations in the United States, UK, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

The images of Shepherd's Bush were taken last summer when the building work at Westfield was in its final phases and many local shops, which have since succumbed to the recession, were still trading.

Although just a day old in London, Street View has already provoked controversy. While the Guardian trumpeted the new feature as 'Christmas for British Snoops', Conservative Councillor for Ravenscourt Park, Harry Phibbs wrote in the Daily Mail that Google should 'keep its damned nose out of my home.'

Mr Phibbs said that the new service would allow burglars to identify valuable lead in the roofs of historic buildings. "Looking up my own address I am embarrassed to see the hedge needed pruning," he added.

Other commentators were concerned that images of children and residents were sometimes visible in the photographs, although faces were blurred out.

However, other residents took a more light-hearted view like Chiswick's Maggie Philbin who posted her dream house in W4 on her Twitter page and asked "Where would you like to live in Street View?"

Google have already received a number of privacy-related complaints and have had to remove several images where people's faces were easily identifiable, the Guardian reports. According to the Telegraph, privacy campaigners are launching a legal challenge against the service, although the Information Commissioner gave Street View the all clear last year.

Google say users can easily request the removal of images by clicking on the 'Report a concern' link on the Street View website.

To check out your home, or your dream home, se http://maps.google.co.uk/streetview.

March 20, 2009