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Czechs bar Google's street view
Source: Agencies |
September 23, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Czech Republic has refused to grant Google permission to expand its "Street View" because the mapping feature invades people's privacy, the government's privacy watchdog said yesterday.
The Czech Office for Personal Data Protection has been investigating the issue since April, and last week it denied Google Inc the necessary registration for "Street View" in the east European country but did not explain why.
Google at the time considered it a temporary decision. Yesterday, the US Internet giant said it was closely cooperating with the Czech agency and providing all the details required to be allowed to continue collecting data.
But office head Igor Nemec said Google, while gathering the data, uses technology that "disproportionately invades citizens' privacy."
"Street View" provides Internet users with panoramic views and photographs of neighborhoods along many streets across the globe. It is popular but has been controversial in Germany, South Korea and other countries amid fears that people - filmed without their consent - could be seen doing things they want to keep private.
Google also lost the trust of many in Europe this spring when it had to acknowledge that the technology used by its "Street View" cars had also vacuumed up fragments of people's online activities broadcast over public Wi-Fi networks for four years.
Nemec, the Czech official, said the "Street View" cameras are placed too high - 2.7 meters tall - which allow them to see "over the fence" and into people's homes.
The Czech Office for Personal Data Protection has been investigating the issue since April, and last week it denied Google Inc the necessary registration for "Street View" in the east European country but did not explain why.
Google at the time considered it a temporary decision. Yesterday, the US Internet giant said it was closely cooperating with the Czech agency and providing all the details required to be allowed to continue collecting data.
But office head Igor Nemec said Google, while gathering the data, uses technology that "disproportionately invades citizens' privacy."
"Street View" provides Internet users with panoramic views and photographs of neighborhoods along many streets across the globe. It is popular but has been controversial in Germany, South Korea and other countries amid fears that people - filmed without their consent - could be seen doing things they want to keep private.
Google also lost the trust of many in Europe this spring when it had to acknowledge that the technology used by its "Street View" cars had also vacuumed up fragments of people's online activities broadcast over public Wi-Fi networks for four years.
Nemec, the Czech official, said the "Street View" cameras are placed too high - 2.7 meters tall - which allow them to see "over the fence" and into people's homes.
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