TORONTO - Admitting to searching one's own name in the Internet's vast expanses once raised a few eyebrows and sparked cries of narcissism, then search engine Google left its competitors in the digital dust, became a verb unto itself and the activity is now downright commonplace.
Googling oneself is yet evolving again, reaping thrills for enthusiasts -- though triggering concern in others -- as the giant prepares to unveil a new feature here that just might thrust Canadians under an even brighter searchlight.
The company announced in late March it's soon launching Canada's version of Google Street View. In the coming weeks, web users will gain a compendium of millions of eye-level snapshots arranged to provide a 360-degree panorama of the country's major metropolitan areas -- easily searched through Google Maps and Google Earth.
What many don't know is their unwitting image may already be included. Googling oneself now may mean decoding whether that pixilated face is you or a friend.
Street View was created to give its users the ability to virtually roam the streets of urban centres, downtown cores, tourist attractions, commercial centres and neighbourhoods.
But as the company now touts myriad potential benefits to users, Canadian privacy experts are scrutinizing the captivating map's first roll-out here.
The government also says it's engaged in "high level" talks with Google as the company equips a road crew to begin a second photography tour of 11 Canadian cities, also set to begin in the coming weeks.
Drivers will cruise through Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec, Saint John and Halifax.
"Just because people are in public places and their photograph is captured, I don't think that means to Canadians that the privacy laws don't apply," said Elizabeth Denham, assistant privacy commissioner of Canada.
"When individuals are in a public place, there still has to be some knowledge that their photo is being taken and uploaded to the Internet."
Google launched Street View in the U.S. in May 2007, soon visually documenting and uploading the streetscapes of eight other countries to the web. Later that year, crews also embarked on Canadian streets, snapping static shots from camera-mounted sedans embossed with the ubiquitous company logo.
Holding an array of cameras, each vehicle moves along public roads collecting raw images of everything that happens to be in view -- including residences, passersby and any other happenstance activity that's trapped by its sophisticated lenses.
It's the 2007 photos that will be showcased in the upcoming release. The reason they're only being posted now is partially thanks to concerns previously raised by the federal privacy commissioner, who feared the easily accessible photos showing some citizens could infringe on their privacy, Denham said.
Canada's privacy laws require that the person being photographed give their consent to the pictures being published, unless they are being taken for "journalistic, literary or artistic purposes."
The company recently approached Denham's office to explain what measures it has taken to alleviate its misgivings. In post-production, Google now subjects all photos to an automated process of blurring people's faces and licence plates.
"Google, broadly, works to ensure that our products and services comply with local laws and cultural norms in any country where we launch them," said its Toronto-based spokeswoman Tamara Micner.
In addition, anyone can request specific images be removed from the site.
"We do know that some people, a minority of people, are sometimes uncomfortable with images of their houses or their cars (posted online)," Micner said.
Calling the safeguards "good steps," Denham noted her office is still encouraging Google to provide broader notification as the next wave of drive-by snapshots begin. Google, however, said it won't be giving further notice.
"Our expectations are that they take reasonable steps to notify people, so people can choose whether or not to be in that public place," Denham said.
If her office receives any complaints, it will investigate.
But Google isn't leery of raising the ire of Canadians and won't be hiding what it's doing, Micner said.
Yet one employee in Britain was forced to abandon the very same task last Wednesday when an angry mob in an affluent villagers formed a human chain to prevent his Google vehicle from entering. They accused the company of invading their privacy and creating an invitation for burglars to strike.
"I think what's bugging people is the anonymity aspect, people feel they're somehow going to lose it," said Avner Levin, director of Ryerson University's Privacy Institute.
"(The feature) is new. It's a change and it bothers people."
While he commends the company on its safeguards, Ian Kerr at the University of Ottawa questioned whether they go far enough to protect someone's identity.
A woman who moves to another city fleeing an abusive relationship may still be recognizable if she's wearing a unique piece of clothing, he cited as an example.
"There's always a risk of re-identification by somebody combining other bits of information to know who they are," said Kerr, who holds the Canadian research chair in law, ethics and technology and is co-editor of "Lessons from the Identity Trail."
Though it will only release the processed photos, Google said it will retain the raw images -- developed in partnership with Calgary-headquartered Immersive Media -- for operational reasons.
Google hasn't said how or if the new images will be combined with those from the first driving tour. Micner said it will take at least several months for the driving portion to be completed and possibly longer before the project's release.
