Pigeon defecates on a Google Street view camera
Wednesday December 23 2009
A pigeon has defecated on a Google Street view camera.
Photographs taken for Google's Street View service showed the pigeon defecting on the screen of the Street view car in Los Angeles.
It is the latest mishap to hit the Street View service, which launched its Irish version earlier this year.
The Street View service, allows people to view pictures of their homes and neighbourhoods online via the search engine's maps.
The 3D images have been captured by special patrol cars with roof-mounted 360-degree cameras, which take pictures of every street and road in the city. The faces of people captured in photographs are automatically blurred so that they cannot be identified, while car number plates are also rendered illegible.
Human rights campaigners have expressed concerns that the Street View service could pose a threat to people’s privacy. There are also concerns that the highly detailed photographs could be used by burglars and criminals to plan and commit crimes.
Users can "report" inappropriate photos for removal, and Google indicated that it would delete image’s of people’s houses if they objected strongly to them appearing in Street View.
Photographs of a cycling accident, a man vomiting and a member of the public leaving a sex shop were all taken down after complaints from users.
- Urmee Khan
© Telegraph.co.uk
