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Part of a Google street view of Geneva's rue du Rhone, faces blurred in line with Swiss privacy laws

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Google maps, the application from internet giant Google, just released a new version of  its maps application that includes street views, seamless 360° views of the centre of most Swiss cities.  Taken by vans that cruised around the city centre taking countless photographs, the project has caused concern around the world because of the implicatons for privacy.

Google promised in June 2009 that it would ask permission before taking photos of people who may be recognized in the street view application. The Swiss data privacy commissioner, Hans-Peter Thuer, said at the time that he would ensure that Google kept its word.

Street view in Switzerland is not comprehensive. The Google vans had trouble driving through the many pedestrian areas closed off to vehicles. Thus, Geneva’s beautiful Parc des Bastions is not accessible by street view. But the jewelry store that was in yesterday’s 18 August news is readily street viewable (78 rue du Rhône, Geneva). It is actually different from the view of the same address when one uses the application to “walk down the street” from rue Pierre Fatio, Geneva.  The Kindlifresser fountain in Bern (“children eater”, 9 Kornhausplatz, Bern) is clearly visible in a zoom view, and direct views of people’s faces have been slightly fuzzed to protect their identity.

Background:“Google street view curbed in Switzerland“,16 June 2009, GenevaLunch