Google Street View back in India: What is it and why was it suspended?

After a hiatus of more than a decade, Google’s Street View has relaunched in India for 10 cities with data from local partners Tech Mahindra and Mumbai-based Genesys International.

The tech giant’s 360-degree interactive panorama feature was suspended in the country after it failed to receive security clearances from the government.

What is Google Street View?

First launched in 2007 in several cities in the United States, Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides three-dimensional interactive panoramas of locations along many streets in the world.

Since its launch, the service has expanded to include cities and rural areas worldwide.

The panoramas are created by stitched VR photographs that are taken using a car, but sometimes other vehicles as well.

Why was it banned in India?

The feature has faced privacy complaints and regulatory scrutiny in many countries.

According to news agency Reuters, the Indian launch comes after Google was denied permission at least twice in the last decade by the government over security concerns.

The government in 2016 rejected Google’s plans to collect images for its Street View service after objections from security agencies.

As per a BBC report, security agencies had expressed concerns about allowing such image-capturing services, on the basis that planning for the 2008 Mumbai attacks is believed to have involved photographic reconnaissance of targets by key "planner" David Headley, a US man.

Terrorism and breach of national security were some of the concerns raised by the government at the time.

"The main concern was security of sensitive defence installations. The defence ministry said it was not possible to monitor the service once it was launched and it would be detrimental to national security," a senior government official was quoted as saying by The Hindu newspaper.

Google Maps has been offering the Street View imagery in the country in a limited capacity. It currently provides these imagery for several monuments such as Taj Mahal, Khajuraho, Qutub Minar, Red Fort, and Ajanta and Ellora Caves through a partnership with Archaeological Survey of India in 2013 as well as certain private properties such as Sula Vineyards.

Why has it been relaunched now?

Google said that India’s new geospatial policy, which was unveiled last year, helped the company relaunch Street View in the country.

The country's recent geospatial policy requires that only local entities acquire, collect, store and own the imagery data.

For its Street View service in India, Google will work with two local firms - 3D mapping content and geospatial solutions firm Genesys International and IT services firm Tech Mahindra.

It is also the first time that Google has tied up with local partners to offer the service to consumers, a model it hopes to scale in other parts of the world as well.

Google said the service will initially be available in 10 cities including Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Nashik, Vadodara, Ahmednagar, and Amritsar with plans to expand it to more than 50 cities by the end of 2022.

According to Moneycontrol, the company has claimed to have licensed fresh imagery from its local partners spanning over 150,000 km across these ten cities. It also plans to offer Street View APIs to local developers to help them deliver richer mapping experiences in their services.

With inputs from agencies

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