Google’s Street View car, which travels though countries and takes pictures of its surroundings at street-level, was blocked by a group of angry citizens in Britain who refused it access to their village.
A group of men and women in Broughton stopped the car from moving throughout the tiny village. Resident Paul Jacobs claimed: “My immediate reaction was anger; how dare anyone take a photograph of my home without my consent?”
Another resident called the police, who claimed that a member of the public “had called us to report that he, along with a number of others, were standing in the middle of the road preventing the car from moving forwards and taking photographs. They felt his presence was an intrusion of their privacy.” When police arrived at the scene, the car had moved on.
Google claimed it had broken no laws, but still maintained its position on allowing users to request their images be taken off the Street View application.
“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 a hour,” the company said.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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