Google Street View

Google Street View. Google faces court action in Switzerland over Street View. Switzerland yesterday called a halt to Google's seemingly unstoppable drive to map and photograph the whole world.

The country's privacy watchdog is taking the search engine company to court over its free service that shows panoramic street-level pictures of 100 global cities.

Making a stand: Switzerland is taking Google to court over its controversial Street View service

Data protection commissioner Hanspeter Thuer wants Google to ensure that all faces and car plates are blurred and that enclosed areas such as walled gardens and private roads are removed.

He also wants the California firm to declare at least one week in advance which Swiss town and cities it plans to photograph and show online.

He lodged a request in August that Google take 'various measures to protect personal privacy in its Street View online service'.

And Mr Thuer said Google had declined to comply, forcing him to take the matter to Switzerland's federal administrative tribunal.

Street View has been criticised in Britain, Germany, Japan and elsewhere for allowing individuals to be identified without their knowledge or consent.

A spokesman for Google said yesterday: 'We believe that Google Street View is absolutely legal, also in Switzerland.'

He said the service was extremely popular in the country and that new software which can obscure details such as car plates would allay Mr Thuer's concerns.

Not in our back garden: The Swiss privacy watchdog wants Google to ensure that all faces and car plates are blurred and that enclosed areas such as walled gardens and private roads are removed

( dailymail.co.uk )