Yesterday it was announced that the European Union will be looking into complaints against Google in regards to alleged antitrust violations. Today the groups data privacy regulators have demanded that Google Inc.notify people prior to sending cameras out take photos for its Street View maps. Streetview, which started in 2007, includes photos of streets, which can sometimes contain scenes with faces and personal information blurred out for privacy. Streetview is available for more than 100 cities internationally.
The regulators added in a letter that Google should reduce the time they wait before disposing of the photos to six months or a year.
Google has continually perturbed EU regulators who consider photographing people in public places a violation of personal privacy. Several countries, including Greece and Germany, have expressed their concern, and even resorted to drastic measures to thwart camera vans from entering a city. In Greece they formed a human chain.
The EU says that they expect all companies to meet their standards for personal privacy and that Google should expect fewer complaints if and when they become more careful in this department.
In addition to the letter, EU antitrust authorities also brought up complaints from search engine rivals that insist the company intentionally lowers their rankings in the search results.
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