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Point of View – “Street View” in Germany

11 Jun. 2008 | Author: AWo | german

A report by news magazine ‘Focus’ reports that Google intends to introduce its panorama photo innovation for German towns and cities.  Deutsche Post AG plans a similar venture. The call to action for data privacy activists has been sounded…

Google StreetviewTo realize the Google Maps Feature “Street View” for Germany, the foreseeable future will show cars sporting specialized cameras, cruising the streets of local towns and shooting innumerable 360º photos. “We are at the moment already on the go in Europe and will also come to Germany”, confirmed Google’s data security executive Peter Fleischer to ‘Focus’ magazine.

In the USA, this service has been on display since May 2007 and is constantly being expanded.  From the launch, Google’s display of highly detailed photos – some of which clearly show faces of pedestrians or license plates (and occasionally still do) – has been cause for discussion and uproar. For example: a couple whose house was visible in “Street View”, felt their privacy had been invaded and took Google to court. In Europe the situation will not be any easier for the search-engine market leader. On the contrary – according to a report posted in the online magazine PCWorld, the EU’s data protection supervisor, Peter Hustinx has expressed his reservations concerning “Street View” and warns against its introduction, as its present format is not compatible with European legislation.

Google has actually already started to blur the faces of people caught in “Street View”, using a technique aptly named “Face Blurring”, which automatically recognizes faces and blurs them.  This technology was first tested in documenting Manhattan, according to Google’s Lat Long Blog. It is planned to be universally implemented in Europe, and will obliterate not only faces but also vehicle license plates as well. “In all European locations, no faces or vehicle license plates will be recognizable [in Street View]”, promised Fleischer to ‘Focus’.

However this doesn’t satisfy many privacy watchdogs.  As outlined in the ‘Focus’ report, the Deutsche Post AG is working on a very similar project. For this project, watchdogs are calling for not only the blotting out of faces and license plates, but also house numbers. According to ‘Focus’, concerns are mounting regarding public display of private buildings. These could then be linked to specific people [and invade their privacy].

Whether these fears are unwarranted, is questionable. Actually, “Street View” is a nice and useful feature.  Shouldn’t it, assuming that faces and license plates are unrecognizable, also be granted the blessing of the data protection legislators?

Point of View – “Street View” in Germany
Posted in Discussion, Local Search per PC, Practical features | Tags: , , , , , , , ,

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