Table of Contents
What has happened?
- Google Street View is finally available for ten cities in India and is expected to roll out in about 50 more cities by the end of the year.
- The 360-degree interactive panorama feature of Google Maps has been available in cities spread over 100 countries since 2007.
- In India, unlike in other markets, Google Street View is powered by images from third parties as per the National Geospatial Policy, 2021.
What is google street view?
- Google Street View is an immersive 360-degree view of a location captured using special cameras mounted on vehicles or on backpacks by data collectors moving around the city streets.
- The images are then patched together to create a 360-degree view which users can swipe through to get a detailed view of the location.
- It is available to view on Android and iOS using the app, or as a web view.
Why was it not enabled in India?
- In 2011, the Bangalore City Policy stopped vehicles capturing images for Google Street View.
- Though there was no clarity on why exactly the policy stopped the capture of data, after that Google did not proceed with the product in India,
- Even as local companies like Wonobo and MapMyIndia came up with their own versions of immersive visual maps of some Indian cities.
Why it has been launched now?
- The National Geospatial Policy, 2021 lets Indian companies collect map data and license it to others.
- After this, Google has tied up with Tech Mahindra and Mumbai-based Genesys International to enable Street View for 10 Indian cities initially.
- This is the first time Google is working with partner data to enable this feature.
- In India, the data will be collected and owned by these partners.
Are there any limitations in India?
- Street View in India is not allowed for restricted areas like government properties, defence establishments and military areas.
- This means in a place like Delhi, the cantonment area will be out of bounds for Street View.
How will it help users?
- While Google Maps gives users the ability to plot a route and see the satellite view of the same, often this does not give a clear idea of the road conditions.
- With Street View, users will be able to see exactly how a new destination looks like, and even explore local businesses before going there.
Issues with street view?
- Over the years a lot of privacy and other issues have been raised regarding Street View.
- A lot of these stem from people’s faces and other identifiable aspects, like car number plates and house numbers, being captured by the camera and being misused in different ways.
- There have also been security concerns about this kind of views being available, especially for sensitive locations.
- Along with India, Google has had issues with the local authorities in countries like Austria, Australia and Germany.
Q) What is the name of the new Blockchain-based payment platform of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)?
- Shakti
- Vajra
- Veer
- Virat
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