Google Street View is rumored to be launching in the United Kingdom later this spring, says Techradar. Though I haven’t come across any confirmation by Google, the rumor makes sense. Google Street View vehicles have been driving around the UK for months now. Whether or not Street View will cover the UK in all its glory isn’t known, but the rumor states that most of the country’s major metropolitan locations will be covered–for example, Manchester, Birmingham, London, and Edinburgh.
UK privacy group Privacy International is opposed to Google Street View claiming that it breaks data protection laws. Though Google tries to obscure faces in its Street View imagery, Privacy International is using the human face as fodder for argument anyway saying that Google can’t use a persons image without consent for a commercial purpose. The group is considering taking its case to the UK’s Information Commissioner.
If anyone from Privacy International happens to read this I’d encourage you to also read another one of my articles entitled, “Privacy Is Overrated. Shut Up About It Already!“.