EU Orders Google To Delete Street View Images
February 26, 2010Google Street View is a feature of Google Maps and Google Earth. The service offers a 360-degree view and panoramic views from the street in various areas around the world. The service rolled out in May 2007.
Currently, Google holds Street View images for a year. However, the EU's Article 29 Data Protection Working Party is pushing for Google to delete the images much sooner, calling 12 months a "disproportionate" amount of time.
"Europe went south on Street View. An awful lot of citizens are concerned with the product. The end result is that is driving regulatory interest," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. "Once you get a lot of citizens upset, you are going to have politicians that take notice and take action."
High EU Standards
Bloomberg obtained a letter that the Working Party sent to Google. The letter expresses concern that Street View continues to raise data-protection issues. EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said, "In Europe, we have high standards for data protection. I expect that all companies to play according to the rules of the game."
The Working Party also called for Google to reveal to citizens more information about when its Street View cars will be mapping in their neighborhood. Google deploys cars around the United Kingdom to take photographs.
"Google needs to raise much more awareness of Street View cars going though people's streets, as there is an option to opt out of appearing in them but no one knows about it," said the commissioner's office.
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