Home Ministry says no to Google’s Street View proposal

Google representatives had, in April 2015 approached the home ministry with a presentation on its Street View service, and pitched it citing its uses in tourism and disaster management. It submitted a formal proposal three months later seeking permission to shoot images for the service through high-end cameras. The Ministry of

Home Affairs had referred the matter to the defence ministry.

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Earlier, in 2011, Google was allowed to launch Street View as a pilot project to cover tourist sites like Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Qutub Minar, Varanasi river bank, Nalanda University, Mysore Palace, Thanjavur temple Chinnaswamy stadium besides others in partnership with the Archaeological Society of India.

“Once the Geospatial Information Regulation Bill, 2016, comes into force, all these issues will be sorted out,” Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs had on May 4 made public the draft of the Bill that aims “to regulate the acquisition, dissemination, publication and distribution of geospatial information of India which is likely to affect the security, sovereignty and integrity of India”, and
invited comments or suggestions within the next 30 days.

Google Street View, displaying panoramas of stitched images, was launched in 2007 in the United States, and now covers many cities across the world.