Google will make Street View Changes in Germany

Google will change its policy in Germany. In accordance with the Data Protection Office of Hamburg, undistorted photo images will be removed from Street View, prior to publication, upon request.

Google Maps has offered Street View Maps of certain locations in the United States since May of 2007. Cars armed with panoramic cameras drive the streets and record images up close. If a person is walking a dog on the sidewalk when the camera cars are in action, the image is clear enough to identify the dog and the person. Do you want a clear image of your child playing in your front yard on the internet for all to see? What about a readable image of the license plate of your vehicle parked in front of your home? These are common complaints of the privacy issues involved with the program. The automatic blurring system currently used doesn’t always work.

In most countries, images are published to the internet and not deleted until a complaint is registered by an individual. Germany will be the first country where users may ask Google to remove or blur images before they appear on the internet. Google is in the process of designing an online method where user requests for image removal could be processed prior to the scheduled launch in Germany.

This privacy policy change in Germany will also insure that images involved in formal complaints would be deleted from their raw image database prior to the launch of Street View.