News

Villagers block Google Street View car from snapping houses

Broughton residents have prevented Google's camera car from taking pictures of their village for the controversial Street View photo mapping service.

3 Apr 2009

Forget the G20 protests the real direct action this week was happening in the village of Broughton.

After the Google Street View car arrived at the Buckinghamshire village to snap pictures for the controversial street-level photo mapping service, villagers blocked the road, forcing the car to turn around and leave.

A villager called Thames Valley Police and a police car was sent out, but by the time it arrived the Street View car had left.

Broughton resident Paul Jacobs told the BBC: "I don't have a problem with Google wanting to promote villages. What I have a problem with is the invasion of privacy, taking pictures directly into the home."

"Google have taken a tremendous liberty in the way they've gone about it.

"If they were simply going to view the street as a street scene rather than drive almost into people's drives and take pictures of the houses - I think that's a different issue."

In a statement, Google said: "We know that some people are uncomfortable with images of their houses or cars being included in the product, which is why we provide an easy way to request removal of imagery. Most imagery requests are processed within hours."

Street View launched in 25 cities across the UK last month, to much concern about privacy issues.

Click here to read about one man's worries about Google Street View.