Google Street View cameras infringe on privacy, says Czech data protection agency

The authorities in the Czech Republic recently stopped Google from collecting photographs for its panoramic Street View mapping service. The country’s data protection agency is refusing to grant the internet search giant a licence to collect fresh data, saying that its cameras impinge on people's privacy. Google is contesting the decision.

At a news conference at the Prague headquarters of the Office for Personal Data Protection on Wednesday morning, the agency’s director Igor Němec explained why it was not renewing Google’s license to collect photographic images for its Street View service.

The first reason seemed rather technical. Parent company Google Inc. is based outside the Europe Union and is therefore required to appoint a representative in the Czech Republic if it wants to process data here.

The second reason was the rather more predictable claim that Google intrudes into the privacy of citizens. Mr Němec said his office had received dozens of complaints in this regard.

Google Street View car, photo: Uri Sharf, Wikipedia

“Google uses a camera that is positioned at a height of 2.7 metres. This impinges in an invasive fashion on the privacy of citizens, and that’s what they’ve been filing complaints about. Google Street View shows the contents of their homes, and behind fences. That’s why we say that this amounts to collection of private data, and contravenes the stated aim of supporting tourism – which is what Google declared its service to be.”

As for what the data protection body wants Google to change, its head said for instance that the internet giant could take pictures from a lower level: the eye level of a person of average height, to be precise.

Mr Němec also called on Google to “distinguish” between recording data in big cities that are visited by tourists and small villages that aren’t. To date, the Google Street View service is available for Prague, Brno, Olomouc, Český Krumlov and on the main Prague-Brno motorway. The Office for Personal Data Protection is not questioning the company’s right to use images already collected.

Igor Němec

Google had already filed an appeal against the Office’s decision prior to Wednesday’s news conference. However, in a statement reacting to Mr Němec’s comments, Google said that images taken at average eye level would be of less value to users, as some views could be blocked by parked trucks or vans. It says the service is about streets, not faces.

Google also said it would continue to engage in “constructive dialogue” with the data protection agency. For its part, the government body says rejection of the internet firm’s application for a new license does not mean there is no room for further negotiations on the matter.