Google Launches Boston Street View with Its Maps
Too late for me to find the article online, I noticed a piece in Tuesday’s Boston Globe about Google launching images of Boston in the Street View portion or its mapping service. The local television news channel WCVB summarizes the article, outlining some of the privacy concerns for images that show people’s faces, license plates, and activities. Google indicates it takes people’s privacy very seriously and has removed some images of people from the maps at their request.
The Globe article indicates only certain areas of Boston and the surrounding communities are available, but Google refuses to be more specific about what people can find. Boston is neither the first city to be included nor the only one added this week. Google is also providing a way for people to include the images on their weblogs and Web sites.
To access Street View, click on the Street View button and drag the yellow human icon to a street outlined in blue. A window opens that shows the photographs of the street. It’s a little buggy, but I’m used to that with Google services. The first few times I tried it, Firefox 2 crashed. If the window showing the view opens near the top of the screen, the maps search box and button show through the image. I checked on some familiar streets to see what’s included and what isn’t. One street is numbered incorrectly in most mapping services. Google doesn’t correct the problem with its images, either, even though you might see some of the building numbers in the photographs. I suppose by showing the completely wrong building for an address, they’re trying to protect people’s privacy.
