Apple deploys in Finland, Norway, and Sweden to collect Apple Maps data

Apple has been working on rolling out a new map for a while now, and it looks like that effort is making its way to a few more countries.

Reported by AppleInsider, Apple is deploying vehicles to map out new areas in Finland, Norway, and Sweden between July and August. The announcement came through the Apple Maps Image Collection website.

The areas to be canvased are Finland's Uusimaa region near Helsinki, Norway's capital city Oslo, and Sweden's Malmo. The data collected by the Apple Maps cars will be used for Apple's Look Around feature, a competitor to Google's Street View.

Apple had finished rolling out its new map in the United States earlier this year and continues to fine-tune the data to ensure it is up to date. It is also currently deploying vehicles in Europe, Japan, and Ireland. The company uses a number of tactics to gather data, including cars, planes, and people with backpacks in areas that are inaccessible by vehicles.

Apple says that its mapping service, like its other services, is committed to user privacy and that anyone can contact the company to censor part of the map.

We are committed to protecting your privacy while conducting these surveys. For example, we will censor faces and license plates on images that are published in Look Around. If you have comments or questions about this process, your privacy rights, or would like to request that a face, license plate, or your own house be censored, please contact us.

According to AppleInsider, the company may have completed its map of the United Kingdom, but it has not been released yet.