Back in August, when Hanspeter Thür, Switzerland’s Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner, demanded that Google withdraw Street View from Switzerland, Google responded by pledging to blur more and do more to protect personal privacy.
Whatever steps Google took were apparently not sufficient, as Frank Jordans of the Associated Press now reports that Thür has indicated he is taking the matter to Switzerland’s Federal Administrative Tribunal to force Google to make the changes necessary to comply with Swiss privacy laws. Jordans reports:
Switzerland’s federal data protection commissioner wants Google to ensure that all faces and car plates are blurred, remove pictures of enclosed areas such as walled gardens and private streets, and declare at least one week in advance which town and cities it plans to photograph and post online.
“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,” the commissioner, Hanspeter Thuer, said in a statement.
Image credit: “Google Maps streetview car in Geneva” by usharf, Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License.