14 DAY TRIAL // Google Maps Street View is again brought in the spotlights due to a potential Canadian release which will bring the mapping solution in a country considered quite strict about the content available for the users. Back in August, a Canadian official said Google might encounter difficulties from evolving into this nation because its Street View function may violate the local laws. However, it seems that Google is not afraid of this matter and will continue its expansion but with several modifications applied to the mapping solution. According to Reuters, Google wants to censor people's faces and the vehicles' registration numbers in order to respect the laws and protect the privacy.
"We are thinking about launching it outside the United States, including Canada, and we're looking at how it would have to be different in Canada compared to its U.S. version," said Peter Fleischer, Google's global privacy counsel, according to Reuters.
"We would launch Street View in Canada in keeping with the principles and requirements of Canadian law ... that means we know we'll have to focus on finding ways to make sure that individual's faces are not identifiable in pictures taken in Canada and that license plate numbers are not identifiable in Canada."
What's more interesting is that some of the Canadian authorities requested Google to make Street View available for their cities because this function would improve their image a lot and more tourists might be attracted. Moreover, some of them are willing to pay the Mountain View super giant to come to their city, as the Google representative stated.
"They have said 'Please come and start taking this imagery of our city. It's good for our tourist industry and we'll even pay you or reimburse your expenses to do so'," Peter Fleischer added for the same source.