Data collected by Google cars ➹

I was kind of amazed that Google maintains an European Policy blog, but the comprehensive reply to the current (unsubstantiated) panic regarding Street View makes for fascinating reading in both technical and policy terms - and demonstrates, once more, that politicians and journalists have very little grasp of both the implications of technology and the care with which Google collects their information. The usefulness of such data (even building geometry at street level) is astounding, and cannot be understated - it’s certainly better than most urban planning data just about anywhere in Europe, and politicians would benefit more from striking a deal with Google to use it for urban development rather than panicking and overreacting (which is what they’re essentially doing now).