Google's 'Street View' now runs into problems in Germany

22 May 2009

Search giant Google's 'Street View' has come under the scanner again, this time from the data protection authorities in Germany, who have threatened Google with unspecified sanctions if it does not agree to comply with Germany's strict privacy laws.

Google's Street View programme, augments online maps with photos, providing a 'street view' of the searched or mapped location, and provides almost unparalleled detail and breadth of images by using vehicles equipped with periscope-like cameras to collect the imagery with 360-degree panoramic images of homes and businesses and places.

After receiving more than 300 complaints over the collection of images for Street View from Hamburg and 15 other German states, Johannes Caspar, head of the data protection agency for Hamburg city has given Google a deadline to sort out the 12 points that he has put regarding Street View's data retention issues.

Germany's problem with Google 'Street View' project is slightly different to that of other countries.

People in many countries have objected to Google's 'Street View' map imagery, since they feel it too intrusive and requires to be shut down.

Germany, on the other hand, has no problem with Google collecting data for its 'Street View' project, but German authorities want the changes made after collecting the data, like obscuring people's faces or licence plates to be destroyed and not stored since Google's policy is to store the original raw data.