Google Street View cameraman in row with photographer

A Google Street View cameraman told a photographer "don't you take pictures of me" when he tried to reverse roles on him and take his photograph.

 

For months, Google's Street View vehicle has been roaming the streets of Britain, capturing 360-degree images of streets and the people on them Photo: AP

The unnamed driver was busy mapping a street in the village of Wool in Dorset when a local photographer spotted the controversial Google vehicle.
But the multinational's driver was outraged by the invasion of his privacy when the snapper started taking pictures of the car.

 

The freelance photographer, who wishes to remain anonymous, says that with all the privacy issues surrounding Google's new Street View technology it is ironic that the Google driver should get upset about having his picture taken.
The 58-year-old electrician and part-time photographer said: "When I saw the [Google] car I thought to myself nobody has got any decent pictures of this yet so I hopped out the van and started to take some pictures.
"He was not happy about it. I could tell by his body language and facial expressions."
The Google driver then proceeded to shout at the photographer and said: "Don't you take pictures of me, mate." He then asked the photographer to blur his face out of the pictures as Google does in its Street View images.
The photographer managed to get about six to eight photographers of the car which had a pole-mounted revolving camera protruding from the top.
For months, Google's Street View vehicle has been roaming the streets of Britain, capturing 360-degree images of streets and the people on them.
Since it launched millions of Britons have gone online to look at their own houses or landmarks.
However, residents in the village of Broughton in Buckinghamshire have remained off the map after blocking the vehicle from entering their area.
There are concerns over peoples privacy and some worry that Street View helps criminal's scope out targets for burglary or car theft.
Google says the technology is legal, useful and non-intrusive and to preserve privacy, individuals' faces and car license plates are obscured by pixelation.
Google have said they would remove any image on request, which can be done by clicking a link on the Street View Web site.
So far pictures that have been taken down after they were featured in the press - include one of a man walking out of a sex shop and another throwing up on the sidewalk outside a London pub.
Privacy International, a pressure group, has begun legal action against the company in an effort to bring down the mapping service.