Residents in cities including Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Halifax can see high-resolution street-level images through Google Maps.

However, getting the Street View to Canada brought with it privacy concerns from this country’s Privacy Commissioner.

In September 2007, Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart said that many of the images that Google makes available could break Canada’s privacy laws. She wrote to Google and Calgary-based Immersive Media – which helped develop the technology for Street View – with the concern that this product “does not appear to meet the basic requirements of knowledge, consent, and limited collection and use as set out in the legislation.”

Since then, Google addressed concerns raised by the Privacy Commissioner, including the automatic blurring of faces and license plates to avoid identifying people and cars. A reporting feature has been implemented as well, so those caught in the Street View can ask to have their image removed.