Google Street View cars back in business in the UK

Those famous cars with cameras are once again back in business, as Google continues its street photographing project in this country and around the world.

The fleet of snapping, snooping Street View vehicles had been grounded – or should that be parked – due to the unfortunate episode where Google “mistakenly” sampled wi-fi data from networks across the UK.

In the end, the Information Commissioner’s Office cleared the company of any actual wrongdoing, concluding after an investigation that the inadvertently collected data had not made any meaningful intrusion into people’s privacy.

Obviously the ICO also made the point that it was wrong to gather the data nevertheless, and Google indeed agreed, which was why the cars were taken off the road while the wi-fi data collection equipment was removed (and any related software).

That done, the Street View cars will now be seen again, although there isn’t that much of the UK left to photograph, with the service having already covered 95% of our pot-holed roads and leafy avenues.

We can, perhaps, look forward to more entertaining pictures such as the seagull stealing a chip, the woman flashing her bra, and Aberdeen’s Horse Boy.