Snap-a-Snooper in Edinburgh with Google Street View: Coming Later to Streets Near You!

As Google Street View is invading the UK, and more specifically Scotland, the Scotsman reports that the Google camera operatives have come under fire amid claims they are invading privacy by photographing everything in sight. But it seems those behind the Google Streetmap project are less than keen on being pictured themselves, apparently fearing reprisals from angry locals.

And for those who don’t know; Google Street View is a feature of Google Maps and Google Earth that provides 360° panoramic street-level views and allows users to view parts of selected cities and their surrounding metropolitan areas at ground level. Google Street View was first introduced in the United States on May 25, 2007, and only covered areas of the United States until July 2, 2008. As of today, images can be seen in five countries. Introductions have generally occurred every 1-3 months, with a group of cities marked by camera icons being added each time.
In some of the later introductions, other cities without such a marking have been added too.[source]

Apparently many people are deliberately taking snaps of the Google mobile-camera operatives, in a snap-a-snooper game.

These pictures of Google snoopers are courtesy of this man here.


These cameras have not been spotted in Glasgow yet, but they should be on their way real soon. How would you react in your own street? I would get my camera ready, and treat them to an-eye-for-an-eye response!