EON

Google has finally given Canadians something they’ve been hoping for for some time: Street View. Now residents in a number of major cities can find their homes, parks, businesses and maybe even themselves on Google’s Street View.

Google Street View Canada currently has high-resolution images of 15 Canadian cities taken at street-level. Currently, the 360-degree views are available in Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Waterloo, Kitchener, Squamish, Whistler, Chilliwack, Banff National Park, Calgary, Montreal, Quebec City, Halifax, Abbotsford and Vancouver. The earlier part of this year has been spent gathering images for the Canadian cities.

The Canadian government has not hidden their apprehension regarding the technology and privacy. According to Google, all images are taken from public streets and do not infringe on anyone’s privacy. In compliance with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Google Street View automatically blurs the faces of people it captures, along with all license places. Anyone that finds themself of Google Street View can have their image removed by filling out a form online.

Already Canadians have begun sending in fun images they have found on Google Street View. Finds include a street accident at an intersection that disappears while viewing the street 180-degrees, garbage piles in an outdoor skating rink with handwriting on the sidewalk: “Toronto Parks Are Not Dumps!”, and an image showing a Tamil protest in Ottawa across from Parliament Hill.

The Street View application is currently available on iPhones, allowing anyone to enter an address and get a clear, high-resolution view of the intersection or building. All Street View images are patched together from many angles and allow a 360-degree view.