Keep a closer eye on the neighbours with Google

SPITTING DISTANCE: The Beehive in Wellington.

SEE HISTORY IN ACTION: A Google Street view image of the Auckland museum.

HISTORIC: A Google Streetview image of the Cardrona Hotel in Cardrona.

LIKE BEING THERE: A Google Street View photo of Christchurch's Cathedral Square.

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New Zealanders can look at their homes and streets on Google's controversial Street View software from today, but people's faces have been blurred to protect their identity. 

Find something interesting on Google Maps Street View in New Zealand? Send us a link to it.

The free online service lets internet users "walk" down city streets and view the scene from any angle on their computer screens.

Click here to try Google's Street View or click here to learn how to use it.

The free online software has sparked controversy in other countries because people and vehicles can be made out in some photos, while others show people in offensive or potentially embarrassing situations.

Google New Zealand product manager Andrew Foster said Google had consulted the Privacy Commission and offered to blur people's faces - a concession made in other countries. Users could also ask for inappropriate images to be removed.

Google had previously said it would ensure licence plates were not identifiable but had decided against blurring them because most were not legible in Street View images, he said.

Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff has said she was pleased Google had taken steps to protect individual privacy.

Wellington privacy lawyer John Edwards said that, under New Zealand law, people did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy while in public, but Street View made it more difficult to keep their business to themselves.

" I don't know that there's any great objection. Google will still be liable if they do anything or show anything really offensive and people will still have a remedy."

People would first need to be aware of sensitive images before asking they be removed - by which time it would often be too late, he said.

"Once something is brought to your attention because it's noteworthy, it's probably been picked up by somebody else and distributed around the Internet already."

Mr Foster said Street View's coverage of New Zealand was extensive, including cities, towns, regions and remote areas. Hokitika and Greymouth would not feature initially as poor weather prevented Google's camera-equipped cars from taking photos there.

The cars, which had multiple cameras mounted on their roofs, took a year to shoot images of New Zealand streets from all angles.

Street View is already available in six countries, including Australia, the United States, France and Japan. New Zealand is the seventh country featured.

A US couple tried unsuccessfully to sue Google for posting pictures of their home on Street View, claiming they were taken on a road marked "private property". An Australian woman was horrified to see a photo of her parents outside their house one month after her father had died.

Street View can be accessed through Google Maps, as well as being available on iPhones and BlackBerry phones.

Wellington company Terralink is also photo-mapping New Zealand's streets, but plans to sell the images to government agencies, utilities and emergency services.

- © Fairfax NZ News