Google Street View continues photo shooting in 70 towns in Serbia – Virtual tour through Belgrade, Novi Sad and Nis available in a few days

(Photo: Google Maps/screenshot)

As of today, Google continues photo shooting in Serbia. Google Street View vehicles will go for a ride, adding shots on material collected last year in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Nis. In the next three to four months, they will shoot some 70 settlements in Serbia and they will drive through already covered areas so that fresh and more precise photos would be available.

The Google Steet View Service, which enables users virtual tours along the streets of Serbian towns, has been presented today ni Belgrade. The Google’s application, a part of Google Maps, will be available in our country in a few days.

- We will announce launching date in Serbia next week - Josko Mrndze, head of Google for the Adriatic region.

Google Street View service will be available in Serbian and users will be able to access it both on computer, tablets and smart phones.

Apart from initial Street View photos, which will soon be available through Google Maps additional photos collected in new drives will be eventually published.

Street View is a free service, presented for the first time in May 2007. Serbia is 57th country in the world where the service is available. It enables virtual exploration and walk along panorama photos made at the street level.

Shot in Knez Mihailova Street (Photo: Google Maps/screenshot)

At locations in Serbia, where Street View will be available, the service ca start by zooming at the lowest level on Google Maps or dragging the orange icon se Pegman at the left map side to the street marked in blue colour. The service enables user to have a look at the facility, for instance, a a restaurant, before he or she books, to make an itinerary, organize a meeting and at the same to help in home work in geography and many other things.

Users searching for a new residence can use Street View and save time since they can see real estate and environment as well as how to get to the location.

Today, the state secretary at the Ministry of Trade, Telecommunications and Tourism, Lukrecija Djeri and the Deputy Mayor of Belgrade, Andrija Mladenovic, have spoken today about the Google Street View service advantages.

- The service will contribute better position of Serbia at the tourist world map – Djeri said.

- Tourists will be able to get to know with our country, to have a look at a city, to see a hotel they are going to stay at, etc. Since it is said that what cannot be found on the Internet in 21st century, does not exist. Therefore, this will be a great chance for business users as well. They will be able to integrate Google map in their web site and this way promote their hotel, restaurant, café or any other facility.

Andrija Mladenovic, Deputy Mayor of Belgrade, ,said this is an excellent way that people from all parts of the world meet Serbian capital the way it really is, without make up or interpretations.

What was discussed and what worries citizens is that Google Street View shots can endanger their privacy. Google representatives say they should not fear because faces of people on the shots are blurred as well as vehicle registry plates.

The Nis fortress shot (Photo: Google Maps/screenshot)

Still, if anybody recognizes himself or herself and thinks the identity is not well-protected, he or she can ask to be additionally protected.

- There will be a special team in charge for the contact with users. If anybody writes to Google and asks for privacy protection, we will react immediately – representatives of the company said at presentation of Google Street Service in Belgrade.

The representative of the office of the Trustee for information of public interest and personal data protection, Nevena Ruzic, said that Google cooperated with the trustee on the project in order to provide better data protection of all the citizens.

- Google turned to us a year ago and announced it was planning to shoot streets in Serbia. Using th experience from other countries, we found the best solution for everybody,. The Trustee issued a few measures which referred to information collection (citizens must be informed on the shooting) and their keeping, options and ways to carry them out of the country and the methods of erasing faces of people and plates – Ruzic said.

She added that the Trustee is satisfied with the way everything was done and that she believes this will be very useful service for everybody – for the citizens of Serbia, guests from abroad, domestic industry, etc. She added that, still, it is realistic that there will be citizens who will be dissatisfied when they recognize themselves on photos but that it is a good thing they ask to be deleted from them.