Where in the world is the government fighting street view maps that are shown online?”
ATHENS, Greece — A privacy watchdog has banned the Internet giant Google Inc. from gathering images in Greece for its Street View service until it provides additional privacy guarantees. Greece’s Data Protection Authority took the decision despite receiving assurances from Google that it would blur faces and vehicle license plates when displaying the images online, and respond readily to removal requests. Street View provides 360-degree panoramic images of urban areas that the user can manipulate, as part of Google’s Internet mapping products. Google’s Street View has become one of its more controversial projects, with privacy advocates warning it could compromise people’s rights and leave them open to abuses by criminals or snooping government agencies. Residents of a small English village formed a human chain last month to stop one of Google’s camera vans. And last year the Pentagon barred Google from photographing U.S. military bases for Street View. The Greek Data Protection Author
