Warning: This post contains partial nudity and other images that you may not deem suitable for the workplace or for children.

When we first posted our notorious Topless Sunbather here on Google Sightseeing back in September 2006, half the world seemed to be appalled that a person’s privacy should be invaded in such a way and then posted on the Internet, and the other half wanted higher resolution images.

Evaluating the situation again nearly 3 years later, it seems that only half the people got what they wanted.

When Google launched their controversial Street View service in the US, we saw all sort of things that the press were appalled at; including our own post of the Google Street Fight that went on to become one of the best known Street View sightings. Perhaps because of the way US culture operates, we saw violence in the streets - but sexually explicit images never appeared within the US Street View images to any great extent.

On our Google Sightseeing Twitter page we’ve been posting Street View sights for nearly a year now, and we’ve seen the occasional poster or painting showing partially clothed women, but the inevitable Topless Street View Sunbather never materialised… that is until last week’s launch of Street View in the UK and the Netherlands, which also brought updates to several European countries that already had partial coverage.

Google anticipated some of this of course; they chose to skirt around the edges of Amsterdam’s Red Light District rather than have to remove all of the images later. Of course they couldn’t avoid them all, and they did inadvertently capture several images of prostitutes sitting in their windows. In Groningen one woman was even seen showing off an extensive range of sex toys. Although these images have all now been removed, none of them showed any nudity to speak of.

In contrast to the Dutch prostitution system, in Italy the prostitutes can often be seen on Google Street View sitting in their folding chairs while awaiting some passing trade. What doesn’t seem to be so common however, is for them to be sitting with their breasts entirely exposed.

So there we have it. Unlike with pixellated aerial photos, there’s no doubting what we can see here - this image clearly shows a woman’s naked breasts on Google’s Street View service, and at time of writing it remains visible within the Google Maps imagery¹. In fact there are a number of women with their breasts exposed in the Italian images.

Here in Europe it’s perfectly acceptable for a woman to wear nothing but a thong when she visits the beach, so it’s hardly surprising that the Street View car captured the following images when driving through Lazio (again, these images are both still available on Google at time of writing).

Google Street View has been getting a lot of grief from the UK’s papers in the last few days, most of which has been blatant scaremongering. There’s really nothing wrong with there being a picture of your house on the internet - it presents no increased risk to your security or privacy. Just like Google’s satellite images, the community-positive local and global benefits² of Street View will outweigh the unfounded, hypothetical fears concocted by newspapers with column inches to fill.

Seeing inappropriate images is another matter. In truth nobody expects to find breasts on their mapping service, despite the differing attitudes of people of different nationalities. While there are a small number of images that inadvertently appeared on Street View which should be removed³ - if it turns out that these woman don’t have a problem with letting the world see their breasts, then should Google remove their image at the request of somebody else?

On a related note, I wonder if this image of a semi-naked Glaswegian enjoying the summer sun will be removed?

Here’s Wally!

When Google announced the recent UK Street View launch they also hinted at the presence of the popular children’s book character “Wally” (Or “Waldo” as he’s known in the North America), hidden somewhere in the Street View images.

And we’ve found him, posing outside the O2 store on Putney High Street in London.

Looks like Wally is also popular with the ladies! One girl is filming his Street View debut and, after the car has passed, he’s surrounded by adoring fans.

Not even 24 hours since launch, and the rabid hordes of people who have been unleashed upon the UK Street View images have already located two UK television celebrities.

Firstly, comedian Dave Gorman was spotted wearing a very loud tie and watching the Street View Car intently. He has the full story on his blog.

Next up, the unmistakable face of The Stig! Yes, the actual Stig from Top Gear, in full driving outfit, has been spotted in the window of the BBC.¹

Have you found any other celebrities on Street View? Let us know!

Make sure you keep up-to-date with our Google Sightseeing Twitter page, as that’s where we’re posting all of our new discoveries!

Thanks to aerialcaro and Dave Gorman.

Since the discovery last night that Street View had been launched in the UK, things have been developing at tremendous speed! The entire web seems to be talking about Street View, and Twitter mentions are happening so fast that we can barely keep up. In total 25 UK cities have received coverage:

• England: Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Cambridge, Coventry, Derby, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Scunthorpe, Sheffield, Southampton, York
• Northern Ireland: Belfast
• Scotland: Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow
• Wales: Cardiff, Swansea.

The BBC claims that 22,369 miles of roads have been imaged in the UK alone, which has taken a year to complete. Interestingly Google appear to have already begun the next stage of the process, as camera cars have been spotted in the last few days in more rural locations, as well as countries that still have no coverage at all.

However The Guardian claims that the biggest challenge in the project was was actually the British weather last summer - as the cars’ cameras are rendered useless by rain and snow.¹

We’ve been posting loads of things onto our Twitter feed already, but here’s a roundup of some of the best ones seen… so far!

Here’s the best available view of Anthony Gormley’s awesome Angel of the North in Tyneside:

Qantas managed to get themselves some bonus coverage for their sky advertising stunt in Liverpool:

Twitter users all over the country have been finding themselves:

Here’s a couple of Londoners who might not want to be seen in public after this. The one wearing antlers is apparently comforting the other guy, who appears to be puking into a pint glass… Classy.

Also in London, many famous pieces of art have been captured, alongside this rather poignant piece by UK super-graffiti-artist Banksy:

In Cardiff a couple has had their happy day recorded for the world to see, and a van man on his lunch makes his feeling known:

In Bristol the car has captured a nasty looking bike crash in progress:

Also, Google have announced that hidden somewhere in the UK imagery is the stripy-jumpered Wally - of Where’s Wally? fame! I imagine there will be vast competition to be the person that finds him!

Our very own Rob Witherow submitted this in an attempt to take the crown of Ultimate Google Street View Sightseer, but somehow we think the real Wally will be slightly more… 3-dimensional!

Street View launched in the US in May 2007 and is already available in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, France, Spain and Italy. The Netherlands version of the service also launched yesterday, bringing the total number of countries covered to nine, and where some images have already started being removed! Presumably as the guys at Google use sites like this one as filters to spot any dodgy imagery…

Thanks to Stuey, Rob Maddison and the whole of Twitter!

Driving around the city of Bradford, the Google driver spots a shortcut through a road clearly marked as Buses, Taxis and Cycles only. But hey, no one will notice right?

After nipping down the road, the driver is stopped at a red light. Clearly in the wrong, he’s probably urging the lights to change so he can get out of there sharpish.

But what’s this in the distance? Yup, it’s the cops. Quick Google driver, floor it!

Anticipating a tussle, the policeman even pauses the dramatic chase to pick up his partner!

But eventually our driver sees that there is no escape from West Yorkshire Police, and pulls over (into the car park of the former police station).

Let that be a lesson kids, you always get caught. This epic chase was also photographed from the pavement and the story is document on Neatorama.

Many thanks to We Are Dave