Google on July 27 announced the launch of its popular ‘Street View’ feature in India. The India launch marks the first time in the world that Street View, which allows users to view panoramic and street-level 360-degree views of a particular place, is being brought to life completely by local partners.
For the launch, Google has partnered with two Indian firms — mapping solutions provider Genesys International and Tech Mahindra.
Under the National Geospatial Policy, 2021, local companies can collect such data and foreign firms can license the data from Indian entities to serve their customers in the country.
Street View in India is not allowed for restricted areas like government properties, defence establishments and military areas. This means in a place like Delhi, the cantonment area will be out of bounds for Street View.
Different from Google Maps: While Google Maps gives users the ability to plot a route and see the satellite view of the same, often this does not give a clear idea of the road conditions. With Street View, users will be able to see exactly how a new destination looks like, and even explore local businesses before going there.
Concerns: Over the years a lot of privacy and other issues have been raised regarding Street View. A lot of these stem from people’s faces and other identifiable aspects, like car number plates and house numbers, being captured by the camera and being misused in different ways. There
(Source: IE and TH)
