Street View Slides To A Halt In Greece

Google has been told to halt expansion of Street View in Greece until it gives the country's data protection agency more information.

A lot of people love Google’s Street View – but a lot of people hate it, too. And there’s no doubt that the company has had headaches from privacy campaigners with it in Europe. The latest roadblock is in Greece, where the country’s data protection agency has told the company to stop expansion – that is, more filming – until they give more information on image retention and how the public is informed of privacy rights.

It’s not just Google; a similar service from ISP Kapou has been given the same restrictions, according to the BBC.

In a statement, Google said it hadn’t seen full details of the request from The Hellenic Data Protection Authority, but:

"We have already spoken with the Hellenic Data Protection Authority to ensure that they understand the importance we place on protecting user privacy.”

"Street View has not been banned in Greece. We have received a request for further information and we are happy to continue discussing these issues with them. We will discuss with them whether it is appropriate for us to continue driving in the meantime.”

"Although that dialogue is ongoing, we believe that launching in Greece will offer enormous benefits to both Greek users and the people elsewhere who are interested in taking a virtual tour of some of its many tourist attractions."