This scantily-dressed Londoner is the latest victim of unwanted fame that Google Street View can bring you as you go about your daily business. The image has reignited the debate over the legitimacy of Street View - a topic we looked at in December.

The image, taken at 108 Queensway, Paddington, England, United Kingdom, has already received 5982 diggs, provoking comments like "Google, always keeping abreast of new technology" and "Google Baps". Google Street View has not been well received in the UK, with concerns over privacy rights leading to various incidents (one Street View car was blocked from entering a village, another was attacked by local residents).

Our Observers looked at this subject a few months ago. Here's the post:



Beware of tripping over, sunbathing topless, cheating on your partner in public... - if there's a Google van passing by, the evidence will be forever set in a 360-degree photographic panorama and posted online for all to see.

Google's ever-increasing mapping applications are getting ever-increasingly closer to our personal lives. Suspicious minds won't need to bother with private detectives - they can simply log on to Google Maps and access the pedestrian-level view of the entire city - if they're lucky enough to live in Milan, Paris, or the majority of the US, New Zealand, Australia or Japan... Otherwise, not long to wait: Google Street View is soon to arrive in the UK and looks set to pan the entire world.

So far the application has been received warmly, and perceived as a meeting, directions and house hunting tool. There are even activities like scavenger hunts set up for those who find Street View more aesthetically-pleasing than real life. However, as the data collector travels further afield and more "Street View Tourists" find themselves online - not necessarily doing something they're proud of - Google has found itself under fire for privacy concerns. In Japan, a group of lawyers have set themselves up under the name "The Campaign Against Surveillance Society", just weeks after the application was rolled out there. And in the UK, there's already an anti Street View project going, before the programme has even been launched.