According to BBC News, the issue of privacy pertaining to roadway and streetside photography was first raised as a relatively high-profile concern earlier this month, when Google announced its intention to venture down lanes in a “few European countries.” The go-ahead given to Google ensures that it won’t be very long before the UK receives the same treatment many American cities have already.
The only resistance to Google Street View to be publicly reported in recent months, which in fact led to the complete removal of coverage for a specific area, was when the Minnesota community of North Oaks, a private jurisdiction, requested that it be removed when it was decided that Google had not gained the authorization to document it. Google complied.