14 DAY TRIAL // Just as Google got fined for its Books project in France, the company is making concessions on its other controversial product Street View, this time in Switzerland. Authorities in the country claim that Google has agreed to stop publishing any new images taken in Switzerland for Street View until a court can decide if it acts in accordance with the privacy laws of the country.
Google came under fire in Switzerland shortly after launching the service there. Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) Hanspeter Thuer spoke out against the company initially claiming that its face and numberplate blurring technology wasn't good enough to cover all cases and that the height at which the cameras on the Street View cars were positioned enabled it to take shots over fences and walls exposing private proprieties. He also accused Google of being uncooperative in comply with the organization's requests.
In November, the commissioner took Google to court in an effort to block the service in the country. Now, officials are claiming that Google has agreed to stop updating the Street View imagery in the country until the court issues a decision. However, Google will be able to continue to acquire the images, with several caveats, during this time.
"We are pleased that we have come to this agreement with Mr Thuer, under which we can continue taking photographs for Street View," Google's Global Privacy Counsel Peter Fleischer said. "However, we will not put online any additional images on Street View until the decision of the Federal Administrative Court."
Before it can shoot in any location though, Google will be required to make its plans public with at least a week's notice. The images will be taken at the same height as before, despite requests from the authorities, as Google claim that it can't decrease is because of technical reasons. What's more, it's saying that lowering the cameras will only bring them closer to the people's faces defeating the purpose in a way. The company has had to reshoot several cities in Japan at a lower height, but it's now claiming this was done because of the architectural peculiarities of the country, specifically its narrow streets and the small distance between houses.