

Les MacPherson, a columnist with the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, complained in a March 28, 2009, column that the timing of the imaging, at the end of a protracted winter season and before the true onset of spring would cast an unfavourable image of Saskatoon and other cities. While Canada, like other jurisdictions, has raised the issue of privacy concerns regarding Google Street View, the presence of Google cameras in one Canadian city in March 2009 gave rise to a different complaint. One day after Google Street View cars started taking pictures, a lawyer from La Plata tried to stop them in his city but on October 4, 2013, a justice dismissed his complaint. These permits were obtained in September 2013. Initially, Google planned to start collecting images on the same day as in Brazil but they didn't get government permits. In Argentina, Street View cars started taking pictures four years later than originally planned. Google Street View blurs parts of images containing car number plates and human faces in order to protect privacy and anonymity. Some European countries have laws prohibiting the filming without consent of an individual on public property for the purpose of public display. In Europe, the creation of Google Street View may not be legal in all jurisdictions. Images of potential break-ins, sunbathers, and individuals entering adult bookstores have, however, remained active and these images have been widely republished. Google changed its policy to make removal more straightforward, but has since removed the option to request removal of an image, replacing it by an option to request blurring of an image. When the service was first launched, the process for requesting that an image be removed was not trivial. Before launching the service, Google removed photos of domestic violence shelters, and additionally allows users to flag inappropriate or sensitive imagery for Google to review and remove. However, this does not take into account that the Street View cameras take pictures from an elevated position, enabling them to look over hedges and walls designed to prevent some areas from being open to public view. Google maintains that the photos were taken from public property. Privacy advocates have objected to the Google Street View feature, pointing to photographs that show people leaving strip clubs, protesters at an abortion clinic, sunbathers in bikinis, cottagers at public parks, people picking up prostitutes, and people engaging in activities visible from public property which they do not wish to be photographed and have published online.
