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A Swiss government official demanded that Google Inc.
remove immediately any photographic image of Switzerland
Street maps. The company said on Monday that it would
address the matter with the regulator of private rights.
The federal commissioner for data protection, Hanspeter
Thuer, said Google's images transgress the laws of
privacy by not having the identities of individuals
blocked. “Many faces and vehicle license plate numbers
were not shaded or this was not done properly” he said
in a statement, adding that “Google Inc. requires
immediate removal from service of streets until we
ensure that the public images comply with Swiss law”.
In other countries
The Google service provides detailed pictures of the
streets directly. Since its inception in 2007, it has
expanded to over 100 cities, but there have been many
complaints about the issue of privacy, since many people
and institutions have been photographed.
In Greece, the Data Protection Authority rejected a
request from Google this year that they be allowed to
tour the streets with cameras mounted on vehicles. The
Pentagon also banned Google from photographing U.S.
military bases.
Meeting with Google officials
Residents of a small village in England formed a human
chain in April in order to prevent the passing of a
Google van, while in Japan some complained that the
service provided an inside view of fences around their
properties, forcing Google to agree to retake all the
photos in the country.
Thuer said he would meet with Google earlier this week
and the company responded that it was willing to
exchange views.
Visits to increase
Supporting an eventual withdrawal of “Street View Maps”
are many Internet users in Switzerland and other
countries that have taken to safeguard the current
images, particularly those in which it has denounced an
attack on privacy.
Some fans of the system have established controversial
situations which, like parking cars in prohibited
places, faces of people in houses that were not theirs,
or gatherings of people who should not have been
together, and so on.
The photographing of Swiss streets began in March 2009.
Switzerland is the ninth country after the United
States, France, Japan, Spain, New Zealand, Australia,
Britain and Holland to be “available”. Only a few
capitals and selected regions can be visited, but the
project is due, in the case of Switzerland, to include
all major cities.
The technology used is relatively simple: cars equipped
with special cameras and three-dimensional laser
measuring devices, with a coverage radius of
approximately 50 meters. Images and processed tours
allow the user to go on virtual trips of the mapped
cities, some with all kinds of surprises.
Swisslatin (adapted by Stephen Hinch)
28.08.2009 |
