14 DAY TRIAL // The recently introduced Street View function of Google Maps might encounter some unexpected difficulties in its attempt to expand in every corner of the world. The Canada privacy expert Jennifer Stoddart said that the search giant's feature might infringe the local privacy laws if the Mountain View giant plans to bring the mapping tool into the country. According to the Canadian Press, the official sent a letter to Google and to Immersive Media, the company which helped the super giant capture photos and include them in Google Maps, to express her concerns about the evolution of Street View in the Canadian market.
"I am concerned that, if the Street View application were deployed in Canada, it might not comply with our federal privacy legislation," she wrote in the letter according to the same source. "In particular, it does not appear to meet the basic requirements of knowledge, consent, and limited collection and use as set out in the legislation."
But Google Street View has always been a criticized function because it shows a little bit too many details from the streets. Just after it was released, some US residents who found themselves on the maps required the Mountain View company to remove the photos from the mapping tool as they didn't want to appear on a public service. However, Street View is not yet available to the Canadian users so Google might jump over this country in order to avoid legal problems.
"By the time individuals become aware that images relating to them are contained in Street View, their privacy rights may already have been affected," the Canadian official added according to the Canadian Press.
When Street View was first released, the function was available only for 5 cities but the Mountain View company has been working on it and it recently rolled out some new cities for the mapping tool.