HIGHLY detailed panoramic street-level photos of much of Australia will soon be published by Google, but the executive in charge of the project is making no assurances that private homes, faces and number plates will be obscured.
A US couple is suing the search giant for invasion of privacy after photos of their home, on a street clearly marked with a private road sign, appeared on the new feature of Google Maps.
Since the case went public this week, other instances have emerged where the Google-branded cars with roof-mounted cameras travelled down gravel paths to obtain images of private homes, which were put on the internet without permission.
Even in images taken from public streets, there are countless examples of people who were unwittingly snapped in embarrassing or compromising positions.
Google's global vice president, Marissa Mayer, told the Herald that the company hoped to launch Street View in Australia this year, but when it came to protecting people's privacy Google was at the mercy of the "flaws of the real world and human error".
She said Google instructed its drivers not to venture down private roads.
"If the road isn't very clearly marked as a private road, or if the driver misses a sign, there will be occasional places where we make a mistake," Ms Mayer said.
She will speak at the Search Marketing Expo in Sydney today.
Still reeling from the backlash by privacy activists after Street View began in the US last year, Ms Mayer said Google was developing technology to blur faces and number plates but she did not know whether it would be ready in time for the Australian launch.
Street View is available for more than 40 US cities and Google's picture-snapping cars have been traversing Australian capitals since late last year.
The feature will allow anyone with an internet connection to explore the country at ground level for the first time.
The Australian Privacy Foundation has called on Google to accept legal liability under Australian law if someone's privacy is invaded.
Google says people are able to flag inappropriate or sensitive images for reviewing and removal by Google, but the process is not trivial and by that time the damage is often done.
Sensitive images from the US - including a woman exposing her G-string, a man striding into an adult bookshop and another man apparently relieving himself - have since been removed but not before they spread across the web.
Google Maps has spawned entire communities of armchair explorers who share interesting and entertaining discoveries, but Mayer insists this is not what Street View is really about.
Instead, the aim was to help people "find and locate the places you're looking for very quickly visually because you've already seen a picture of them online".
Mayer also revealed Google's plans to expand its web search product into virtually every facet of day-to-day life.
She said the company's goal was to allow people to search the web wherever they are via their car, mobile phone or even voice-activated telephone services.
As well, Mayer hoped Google search could soon evolve to the point where it is able to answer direct questions and personalise results to include recommendations from users' friends.
