ICO warns Microsoft on Google Street View rival Streetside

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has confirmed that it will keep a close eye on Microsoft's Streetside cars as they photograph the UK's city centres, in order to avoid a repeat of the Google Street View privacy debacle.

Sightings of the mapping cars were the first public signs of Microsoft's work to build a rival to Google's controversial service.

"Microsoft has told us that at this stage they are not collecting any data relating to network locations," an ICO spokesperson told V3.co.uk.

"We will be speaking to Microsoft on the measures that need to be in place before any additional data is collected."

The privacy watchdog will be keen to avoid the public outcry and legal action that followed Google's collection of personal data sent over Wi-Fi networks as the company gathered its Street View images.

Some European countries fined Google over the incident, but the ICO did not at the time have the powers to impose monetary penalties.

Now that it does, Microsoft has to tread very carefully and has consulted with a number of privacy groups.

However, Microsoft head of search Dave Coplin told the BBC that the company will not offer an opt-out for businesses or households that want relevant parts of images pixelated out of view.

Coplin explained that an opt-out had come up in discussions with various privacy bodies, but that it was “not something high on their list of priorities".

However, this question of privacy was important enough for a Pennsylvania couple to unsuccessfully sue Google in 2008 for posting pictures of their home.

The Streetside service will go head-to-head with Street View as an add-on to Microsoft's Bing search engine.

Microsoft has stated that it is focusing more on urban centres than Street View, and will continue its mapping exercise throughout Europe in the coming months.