Penguin privacy problems?
Google has set its Street View cars in motion again this time in Ireland, Brazil and Antarctica, to gain a presence in all 7 continents, with the results available from today.
Brian McClendon, VP of engineering at Google Earth and Maps, reportedly said: "We hope this new imagery will help people in Ireland, Brazil, and even the penguins of Antarctica to navigate nearby, as well as enable people around the world to learn more about these areas."
Google's geospatial technologist told The Guardian: "This allows you to visit places you don't normally. One of the challenges we wanted to crack is to go to these remote places, and one of geo team at Google went to Antarctica so he took some kit and took some imagery. It's called Street View, but there aren't many streets in Antarctica! This allows people to understand the contrast between New York Times Square and being on the edge of a glacier looking at penguins."
It is hoped none of the penguins will raise concerns about their privacy, making Antartica the first continent where no problems have arisen from the mapping service's presence. Google has recently faced privacy challenges from plenty of countries it has photographed and Germany is presently in the process of drawing up new rules.
However, Parsons told the newspaper: "With each new release the imagery is of a higher quality and there are more tools to protect privacy, the technology evolves and it's easier to navigate."
He was reportedly surprised about how various nations reacted differently and voiced privacy concerns, forcing the company to change the way it operates, even building in special considerations for Germany. However, he believes it is mostly just a case of people getting used to new technology.
"For us, it's about enhancing the use of Google Maps and we know that that increases by 20% at least when Street View functionality is added, making it the most popular web-mapping site on the planet," he reportedly said.
The new images will apparently be available on Google Street View over the next 24 hours.
