Google is said to be considering using a fleet of drones to capture images for its Street View service.
Street View is an add-on to Google Maps and Google Earth that offers photographs of locations taken by Street View cars that are equipped with a camera.
But German drone manufacturer Microdrones GmbH told the German publication, Wirtschaft Woche, that drones could help provided additional images. The company said it has already supplied a mini drone to Google and hopes to delver dozens more machines soon.
However, the move has raised concerns from privacy groups which fear the drones will be used to snap intrusive pictures of homes and gardens not usually visable from the road.
Under current UK legislation, drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) capable of survelliance must be registered.
Google would not comment on whether it would use drones to capture images.
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Comments
RSebire said: Whos airspace is it Did we fight the Nazis out of our airspace just to give it to googleThe UK government is a sham
Claudia said: Microsoft are way ahead of Google on this and peoples gardens have been already been exposed via Birdseye View in Bing Maps Perhaps Google wants to use the drones for their own 45-degree images Of course a low-flying drone could capture more detail than an airplane Personally I like it if they could keep the images restricted to business areas only