It’s becoming apparent that the new Apple Maps app is a very high priority for the firm. Just a few days days after Apple said they would be including public transit directions in its new maps app, the iPhone maker launched a new website on Wednesday highlighting the various location around the globe where Apple maps cars will be tooling around taking video for use in the app.
The website notes: “Apple is driving vehicles around the world to collect data which will be used to improve Apple Maps. Some of this data will be published in future Apple Maps updates.
We are committed to protecting your privacy while collecting this data. For example, we will blur faces and license plates on collected images prior to publication.”
Apple developing feature like Google Maps Street View?
This new developments provides a very strong hint that Apple is developing a feature something along the lines of Google Maps Street View, which provides street-level video images of city neighborhoods. Google has been driving cars with cameras on top of them around the globe taking millions of pics and then melding them all together so it’s easy to navigate online.
Street View has a number of critics, however, who have serious worries about privacy.
The first Street View images were not sufficiently blurred, so you could spot people picking their nose or smoking when they shouldn’t have been, drivers getting traffic tickets or individuals going into an adult book store. Google also eventually admitted privacy violations relating to some of the vans also capturing data about private Wi-Fi networks. The search engine giant paid a $7-million settlement to the FCC regarding the violations and have also settled for similar privacy violations with regulators in other countries. Google execs claim they did not know that employees were collecting the Wi-Fi data.
The Apple Maps cars are Dodge vans that have a camera rig on top that kind of looks like a drone aircraft landed on the roof.
List of U.S. states and cities for Apple Maps cars
Arizona — Tucson
California — Oakland, Los Angeles
Florida — Orlando
Georgia — Atlanta
Hawaii — Oahu
Illinois — Chicago
Massachusetts — Boston
Michigan — Detroit
Missouri — St. Louis
New York — New York City
Texas — Dallas, Fort Worth
Utah — Salt Lake City
Washington — Seattle
