Google calls it the "last zoom layer on the map," and now it’s available to Canadians.
On Wednesday morning, the search engine giant’s Street View imaging service went live in Canada, giving users the chance to zoom into street level images of Canadian cities using Google Maps.
The service, which has raised privacy concerns, allows users to zoom in to street level in Google Maps, offering a near seamless view of the ground floor of Canada’s urban centres.
The program launched overnight in 11 Canadian cities: Toronto, Calgary, Banff, Alta., Montreal, Quebec City, Halifax, Ottawa, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont., and in Vancouver, Squamish, B.C., and Whistler, B.C., in anticipation of the Olympics.
"With the 2010 Winter Games coming in February, Street View on Google Maps will enable people within Canada and worldwide to explore the host city and Olympic venues, from BC Place Stadium to Whistler Village, and other regions and landmarks across Canada," Google said in a statement.
The images were captured by Google earlier this year by special cars outfitted with dozens of cameras which roamed Canadian roads taking panoramic photos which were then stitched together to create an immersive, near-seamless experience.
The Canadian service became available Wednesday and follows months of discussion between the Internet giant and federal politicians and privacy officials.
Street View has been available in the U.S. since May 2007.
Automatic blurring technology prevents identification of faces and licence plates, but that hasn’t stopped concerns over privacy.
Earlier this year, Google agreed to reshoot Japanese streets from a lower vantage point because its cameras could see over fences into private residences and a privacy watchdog in Greece banned its distinctive vehicles from the streets until data protection safeguards are strengthened.
"Google has consulted with Canada’s federal and provincial privacy commissioners in developing Street View and its privacy safeguards," Google said. "In addition users can easily flag for removal images that they consider sensitive or inappropriate by clicking on the `Report a problem’ link at the bottom of any image."
Sightings of Google’s Street View cars were common on Canadian streets this summer, with many people trying to find their way into the path of the cameras, hoping to be immortalized on the service.
Unfortunately for Torontonians this year’s long and messy garbage strike seems to have been immortalized as well.
In a case of poor timing, frames released Wednesday showed Christie Pits Park while its hockey rink was serving as a temporary dump site during the city’s five-week garbage strike.
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