German Cabinet to consider tougher Street View rules

Image borrowed from The Local.

Another VAOJ update, this one about Google Street View in Germany from The Local:

Coalition politicians are demanding Google be forced to gather residents’ consent to have their homes photographed for Street View rather than wait for them to object, as cabinet prepared Wednesday to discuss changes to the law.

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Street View is an online service by US internet giant Google that allows users to peruse street-level, panoramic pictures of major cities – a kind of “virtual tour.” The pictures are taken by cameras mounted on cars that drive around the city.

While the service is available in many other countries, it has run into firm opposition in Germany over privacy concerns, forcing Google to offer an “opt-out” system, which was launched yesterday and lets home owners and renters demand that their building be blurred out.

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Google plans to put Street View online for 20 major German cities by the end of the year.

Read the whole story:
http://www.thelocal.de/national/20100818-29219.html

See also "Aigner wants longer opt- out limit for Street View:"
http://www.thelocal.de/sci-tech/20100817-29203.html