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Google Street View Starts Blurring Faces

by Terrence O'Brien on May 15, 2008 at 03:54 PM

Google Street View Starts Blurring Faces

Google's Street View has been a source of amusement for some, ire for others, and a concern for privacy advocates. Google is finally starting to conceal the identity of some of the hapless victims of its panoramic photo-taking van. The company has started implementing a new facial recognition tool that will automatically blur the faces of people captured by its Street View cameras.

The technology isn't perfect -- a quick look around Manhattan (the only city to see any blurring yet) reveals some still identifiable faces, and some spots have been blurred that clearly aren't people. Google has been working on the technology for the last year, likely in preparation for a global expansion of Street View. These up-close and potentially embarrassing images may run into tougher legal and cultural opposition on other parts of the globe. [Source: USA Today]

Tags: breaking news, BreakingNews, google street view, GoogleStreetView, privacy, street view, StreetView

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