Google Street View: complaints are piling up
Since the launch of Google Street View a few days ago, complaints against the online service have been mounting. Numerous images have already surfaced in which faces and license plate numbers are recognizable. Switzerland’s top data protection official, Hanspeter Thür, is threatening to shut down the service if Google does not comply with the requirements.
Since this week, Swiss cities can also be explored virtually with Google Street View. According to a statement from Google, the volume of Google Maps usage in Switzerland has increased by more than 80 percent thanks to the new function. In the Sunday press, however, the topic is the lack of data protection: although Google has promised to use software to make people and car license plates unrecognizable, numerous images have already emerged in which faces and car numbers can be identified. The first prominent victim is FDP National Councillor Ruedi Noser, who is recognizable in a photo taken in Bern. Not only data protectionists, but also an increasing number of citizens, are resisting the new online service. Around 300 complaints have been received in the last four days, as Switzerland's top data protection official Hanspeter Thür told the Sonntag newspaper.
Google speaks of individual cases and refers to the possibility of reporting such images and having them removed. "The product is clearly not fully developed," writes the Sonntagszeitung. The fact that such "system errors" are tolerated until revoked by those affected does not comply with Swiss law. Hanspeter Thür had provisionally approved the service. However, he is now threatening to take the internet company to the Federal Administrative Court if Google does not comply with the requirements for the protection of privacy. Thür was unable to explain to the Sonntagszeitung why he did not ask Google to show him the service before publication.
Google speaks of individual cases and refers to the possibility of reporting such images and having them removed. "The product is clearly not fully developed," writes the Sonntagszeitung. The fact that such "system errors" are tolerated until revoked by those affected does not comply with Swiss law. Hanspeter Thür had provisionally approved the service. However, he is now threatening to take the internet company to the Federal Administrative Court if Google does not comply with the requirements for the protection of privacy. Thür was unable to explain to the Sonntagszeitung why he did not ask Google to show him the service before publication.
