Google confirmed to the German Minister of Consumption, Ilse Aigner, that its map service Street View will not launch until all discrepancies submitted by citizens and communities are removed.

After a long battle with data protection specialists (we report), it’s all finally come to a conclusion. The launch of Street View has taken so long because Google, due to complaints, has been working to make apartments, homes, and gardens unrecognizable, Google explained in a meeting with Aigner at the end of April. The search giant will also accept collected opposition from entire cities and communities, as stated in a memorandum from the Ministry of Consumption. Hence, not only single objects will be missing from Street View, but even entire streets, or at least unidentifiable. Prompting the deletion of the data is even possible without internet access: Google confirmed with the Ministry that editing of discrepancies can be done, regardless of whether the company was informed by email or post. To avoid any mix-ups, Google is working on a service with which citizens can make a determination based on the photo material. Even after the launch, it will still, for the most part, be possible to report discrepancies.

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