Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Blogs Google Watch
    • Blogs
    • Google Watch
    • Search Engines

    Google Street View Infringes on Privacy, Say Swiss

    By
    Clint Boulton
    -
    April 5, 2011
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Switzerland’s top administrative court supported the country’s Federal Data Protection Commissioner Hanspeter Thuer in agreeing that Google Street View map service infringes on privacy.

      Street View provides 360° horizontal and 290° vertical panoramic street-level views of 100-plus cities all over the world. The service has since May 2010 been vilified the world over for collecting 600GB of user passwords, browsing info and email via unsecured wireless networks.

      Recall in November 2009 when Switzerland’s Thuer first sued Google after Street View went online there, arguing that:

      “Numerous faces and vehicle number plates are not made sufficiently unrecognizable from the point of view of data protection, especially where the persons concerned are shown in sensitive locations, e.g., outside hospitals, prisons or schools.“

      He sued Google after it failed to comply with requests he made for the company to be more vigilant about protecting Swiss privacy. Now the Swiss court has ruled in Thuer’s favor, ordering that Google must blur out the faces and license plates captured by Street View cameras. The court also noted Google’s reticence to do this:

      “The claimants are discounting any breach of privacy rights of numerous individuals, in the interest of their commercial success. All privacy breaches could be avoided, but this would entail additional costs for the defendants, as they would have to make images (even more) unrecognisable in part manually. The additional costs would obviously not, however, jeopardise the commercial survival of the defendants.“

      Google Global Privacy Counsel Peter Fleischer said Thuer’s demands for faces to be manually blurred out were financially and logistically unfeasible. He noted: “We will evaluate the court ruling and investigate what this means for Street View in Switzerland and what possibilities of appeal we have.”

      Good luck with that. People are straight hating on Street View now, thanks to the WiSpy incident. I’m a tad surprised though because Switzerland’s ruling comes two weeks after Germany ruled that Google Street View is legal.

      The same Germany that has cried the loudest about Google’s Street View privacy abuses, ensuring that Google allowed residents to opt out of Street View before the product launched.

      Over 240,000 households in Germany have accepted Google’s offer to shield their houses or apartment buildings from Street View.

      One wonders, then, what the Swiss ruling will do for Street View all over the world, and whether it will carry over to other countries. The U.S. attorneys general have been particularly loud about Street View in the wake of WiSpy.

      Will the AGs use the Swiss ruling as a template for their own machinations versus the company? I would imagine they would try to squeeze some fines out of the search engine, but as for outright privacy lawsuits, I’m not so sure.

      People often like to settle out of court, getting paid to go away and shut up. I suppose it depends how egregious data collection has been in a state, and how Google reacts to that state’s demands for redress. Connecticut seems to be simpatico with Google now.

      Clint Boulton
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×