“Cameras aren't new, maps aren't new, the internet isn't new, nor is Google or Microsoft. So why does this feel so freshly creepy to so many?” This question, posed on BoingBoing, has been taxing bloggers for the past few days.

Armen, writing on iFFECT.net, outlines a whole range of doomsday scenarios in which innocent bystanders lose their jobs, property or dignity as a result of Google’s cameras.

“Some of you may be thinking I’m over-the-top,” he continues, “but Mary Kalin-Casey has already proved the dangers of this technology. You can see what type of cat she has sitting in her livingroom.” As a scandal, it’s right up there with Jose Mourinho and his dog.

But, as Mashable points out, “Google’s all-seeing eye mounted on the top of a car is perfectly legal, and unless you’re the government, you’re going to have a hard time making them remove a certain image.

“The problem is not the principle,” the writer continues. “The principle that people can go out in the public and take photos is OK. The problem is volume. It’s simple: a perfectly good thing can become bad when there’s too much of it.”

Others, including the Times Online columnist Michael Parsons, were less concerned: “Given that life in the UK is now essentially a series of Orwellian performances – leaving your webcam to drive past street cameras and then nod to the camera in your lift before you sit down and start streaming video from your desk – I find that I'm curiously unbothered by the privacy implications of all this.”

While some were still rehearsing the privacy debate, others had got down to the more rewarding business of finding funny pictures.

“In the short time since Google launched its new service, finding oddball photos has become an addictive new way to kill time for some,” reported Downloadsquad. “If you don't have the time to search the country street by street for photos of robots, you might want to check out Streetviewr."

The site, no more or less than a list of links, has been referenced in countless blogs and websites presenting their own sightseeing lists, including Times Online. In a pleasingly circular touch, the site aims to convert this traffic into cash using Google’s AdSense network.

Others turned their attention to the technology behind the site, with Wired describing how Immersive Media, an agency employed by Google “drives the streets in a pimped-out VW Beetle carrying an 11-lens camera called the Dodeca 360... The Dodeca combines the images into one image, capturing data at a huge 100 million pixels per second and records the GPS coordinates as it goes.”

Further detective work is in progress at Webware.com, where Daniel Terdiman is asking readers to send in “any Street View images that can demonstrate, without question, when the image was taken.”

Once the web has pinned down the date and time at which all the images were taken, the privacy debate will presumably ignite again. In the mean time, the final word goes to Spectroboy, who posted on Fark. “Is it THAT hard to wear a hat and sunglasses when chatting up hookers?” he asks.