Switzerland Nixes Google Street View Over Privacy Concerns

Posted 08/24/2009 at 6:28am | by Paul Lilly

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Google's Street View has come under fire from privacy advocates in the past, and this time it's the Swiss Privacy Commissioner who's feeling hot under the collar after Google launched its Street View service in Switzerland last week. In the wake of the launch, Google's been ordered to "immediately withdraw its online service Google Street View concerning Switzerland," according to a statement by Hanspeter Thür, the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC).

"We were surprised by the DPA's announcement," a Google spokesperson told Arstechnica. "We have been engaged in constructive dialogue with the organization ahead of this week's launch to demonstrate how we protect people's privacy on Street View. And we're ready to do so again or to answer any additional questions."

Google says that any anonymization and image removal requests will be responded to "within hours," and the search giant has so far cooperated with government requests for changes in how Street View operates in various countries. Thür's office has an information page on its site with instructions on how to blur your face should it show up in a snapshot and says that Google would be allowed to offer Strett View for Swiss streets only if meets "negotiated conditions," but what those conditions are remains unclear.