Google brings 'Street View' to Antarctica
Google's "Street View" imagery has sparked privacy concerns in some countries but that's unlikely to be the case with its latest destination -- Antarctica, populated mostly by penguins.
The Internet giant announced on Friday that Street View, which shows street-level pictures of cities around the world, now encompasses all seven continents with the inclusion of images from Antarctica.
The Street View pictures of Antarctica are limited for the moment to user-contributed shots of penguins on Half Moon Island and panoramic landscapes.
Street View has received a mixed reception since it was introduced three years ago with many users praising the service but others, mostly in Europe, considering it intrusive.
The Czech authorities earlier this month banned Google from collecting images for Street View saying the pictures "unacceptably interfere with people's privacy." Google has appealed the decision.
In Germany, protests forced Google to launch a campaign giving citizens concerned about safety or privacy eight weeks to tell the company to pixel out pictures of their homes or businesses before they are published.
(c) 2010 AFP
