More Privacy Concerns From Google Purchase

... following the LabPixies purchase for $25 million in April this year. Quiksee is video tour software that provides state-of-the-art technology allowing anyone to create & upload simple location-based, interactive 3D videos. It is very similar to Google Street View, but it doesn't require a vehicle driving around recording locations.

Although Google is yet to officially confirm the acquisition, the Quicksee founders have announced they will be joining the Google Geo team through a brief statement on their website:

We are delighted to announce that Quiksee has been acquired by Google!

We've learned a lot from our previous work at Quiksee, and we look forward to bringing our experience, creativity and insight to Google. Both Google and Quiksee share the same innovative vision, and while we can't share any future product plans, we look forward to the opportunity to contribute and do great things together in the future.

We'll be joining the Google Geo team and hope to have news for you soon. Stay tuned!

TechCrunch's Erick Schonfeld is skeptical about Quicksee for Google from a privacy point of view, but does see it as good news for small business owners:

The technology could allow Google Maps to accept geo-tagged, 3D panoramas uploaded by consumers. If you think Street View, which is shot by Google employees, creates new issues of privacy on the Internet, wait until consumers start uploading their own street views or who knows what else. Although 3D views inside buildings could be a nifty new feature for Google Places allows businesses to self-upload.

Well, for the time being one can only sit back, listen to more speculation from the experts and wait to hear an official announcement from Google.