Street View prowls Outer Hebrides

Street View prowls Outer Hebrides

Pack of spymobiles also menaces Vienna

Those among you who might have wondered just how far you have to travel to escape the attention of Google all-seeing Street View should be advised that the answer is Rockall, or any other place accessible only by sea - at least until the Great Satan of Mountain View bolts a spycam to a submarine snorkel and scours the world's oceans in search of fresh prey.

The sobering proof that Google spymobiles are prepared to drive to the ends of the Earth to do their dark masters' will comes from James Waterson, who reckoned he'd be safe on North Uist in the Outer Hebrides. Not so...

Naturally, we've added this remote capture to our Street View Google Maps mashup, which has now attracted almost one million hits. Thanks to readers for the latest sightings which have also been pinned to our cartographical Web 0.2 initiative:

Among the hot-off-the-press spots is this from Ben MacDermott, who snapped a pack of sleeping Orwellian Opels in Vienna:

Of course, we were keen to try out our Vulture Central number plate blurring algorithm on this sinister collection of red spycars, but sadly it's still not working properly...

Oh well. �

Blur Switzerland more, Google ordered

Street View privacy jam rolls on

Switzerland's head of federal data protection has told Google that his country is still not sufficiently blurry on the Great Satan of Mountain View's Street View service, despite the company agreeing to further obscure faces and number plates.

Hans-Peter Th�r ordered Street View offline ealier this month because "many faces and car registration plates were clearly visible or were insufficiently obscured".

Google promised "significant improvement" in in the blurring, but Th�r has now decreed that "there were many problem pictures that did not respect anonymity, particularly in private roads and gardens", as Swissinfo puts it.

Furthermore, Street View must also "pay particular attention to blurring such places as hospitals, schools and prisons". If it doesn't toe the line within 30 days, Th�r says he may take the matter to the Swiss Federal Administrative Court.

Google described itself as "very disappointed" with Th�r's stance. It had apparently complied with the privacy supremo's previous demands, only for him to "change his position a few days later".

At time of writing, Swiss Street View is still available, as you can see from this fine view:

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