Knowing where crime has happened, or perhaps likely to reoccur, can also help businesses decide where would be best to set up shop.
"Making crime data more transparent is useful to both the public and to businesses so that they are armed with more information," a spokesperson for the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) told IT PRO.
It's likely any already established firms will know whether their premises are located in dangerous areas, but undoubtedly the street crime mapping service would help illuminate what is really happening.
The service could also assist in knowing where to target certain kinds of customers and what products to focus on which areas.
For instance, security firms could find out which areas have experienced more crime and then ramp up marketing efforts in those locations.
However, one point raised by the FSB was that the online service could lead to some areas being labelled as "no-go areas."
This could "have a knock-on effect on businesses in that area or nearby that may be struggling already and that may experience a reduction in customers as a result," the FSB warned.
That was not the only issue the FSB had with the scheme, as its own data indicated many crimes go unreported by businesses.
"From a business point of view, local crime mapping is misleading because it only records reported crime and research by the FSB shows that 40 per cent of small businesses don't report crime because they lack faith in the system," the spokesperson added.
"If businesses were encouraged to report, then local recorded crime statistics and the associated crime maps would tell a different story."
Furthermore, David Hamilton, from the Big Brother Watch, noted businesses may have to deal with increased insurance premiums if they are based in a particularly crime-ridden neighbourhood.
"I think this would be a concern for the consumer," he told IT PRO.
This means insurance companies could use the maps to push up premiums in certain areas. Conversely, they may even reduce them in other locations.
Privacy concerns
Businesses should also exercise caution when it comes to how they use information from such online services. With any data released online there are always concerns over privacy and the mapping service has been no exception.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has welcomed the initiative, but at the same time warned over potential privacy pitfalls.
"Crime mapping can be an effective means of letting people know what crimes are taking place in their local area, although care needs to be taken as this can potentially have an impact on the privacy of individuals such as victims or witnesses," said information commissioner Christopher Graham.
"It will be important that this initiative is reviewed to ensure that the privacy safeguards are effective in practice."
The ICO was even able to provide the Government with privacy advice to ensure risks were not taken and it appears there is not much to worry about at the current time.
Having tinkered with the system at police.uk, IT PRO found the service both painless to use (apart from learning of the number of crimes in nearby areas...) and certainly not any privacy nightmare.
Nevertheless, Big Brother Watch's Hamilton said it was vital individuals' records were not disclosed.
"We think it's crucial with this kind of sensitive information in the public domain that you're not able to tie crime references and tie them to individuals," Hamilton added.
"It's very important people retain that."
We've already seen what a hubbub Google caused with its own mapping service Street View.
So it would seem keeping the service how it is - fairly basic but helpful nonetheless - would be best for many. Let's just hope the maps do not create the aforementioned "no-go areas", however, as this could seriously harm smaller businesses in particular looking to get a foot on the corporate ladder.
