While Google's Street View is mostly well received, there are still plenty of groups and countries that claim it's an invasion of privacy.
You can add Switzerland to that list.
Poor Switzerland. It's bad enough that it can no longer promise US tax evaders customers complete anonymity, now there's a chance the faces of those customers-and Swiss citizens-could wind-up plastered on Google's maps.
Less than one week after the launch of Street View, Hans-Peter Thur, Switzerland's federal data protection and information commissioner (FDPIC) has called for the immediate removal of the feature.
As always, Google is "surprised" at the move...
"We have been engaged in constructive dialogue with the organization ahead of [last] week's launch to demonstrate how we protect people's privacy on Street View. And we're ready to do so again or to answer any additional questions."
Then, for good measure, Google tries to undermine the FDPIC's demands with this little factoid:
"Since launching last week we have seen an 80% increase in maps usage, proving how popular this tool is with Swiss people."
Or, proving that the Swiss are checking to make sure they weren't caught picking their nose on camera!
(via)
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