Google Maps Street View

How it works

The cars, cameras and technology

Street View cars have special cameras that take photographs as they drive down public streets. Once the photographs have been taken they go through computer processing to make them ready for use on Google Maps. This includes cutting-edge face blurring technology, which helps make sure that passers-by in the photographs can’t be identified. We will also blur legible license plates.

When we have enough imagery collected and processed for an area we add it to Google Maps. It goes without saying, therefore, that the imagery isn’t real-time, in fact it usually takes several months from when the photograph is taken until it appears on Google Maps.