Google Street View Cans Pictures Of Downing Street & Naked Child

The list of Google Street View pictures that have been removed continues to grow as the British public learns to live with the controversial online mapping service.

The Independent newspaper has already pointed in its Sunday edition to the image of a naked toddler that was captured by Google's cameras in a north London Square last summer.

Should further pictures of a similar nature emerge in the future, Google might be held accountable and face a barrage of questions and criticisms from Britain's privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner Richard Thomas.

In a statement to Techradar, a spokesperson from the Information Commissioner's Office said that "We've been assured the correct safeguards have been put in place, although if people are concerned [over their privacy] they can raise those with us."

Pictures of the house of former British Prime minister Tony Blair have also been removed from the photos database. The residence of the current UK Prime minister, 10 Downing street has also been added to the list of blacked out picture although user photos still remain online.

Street View Photos are not live and may be up to 12 months old in some cases; Google already provides with a link through which users can request the web giant to remove pictures that are inappropriate.

In related news, the organisers of the Infosecurity Europe which is due to start at the end of next month say that they are expecting a storm of controversy to erupt over the introduction of the Google Street View facility in the UK.

Tamar Beck, Group Event Director for Infosecurity Europe said that Google Street View is a major threat to national security as it provides terrorists with the electronic equivalent of a dummies' guide to 25 of the UK's major cities.

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