Germany to Receive Fresh Images from Google Street View After 10 Years

After facing privacy concerns in Germany that led to the discontinuation of image updates, Google Street View’s cameras have made a comeback in the country after a gap of over ten years.

Alphabet Inc’s update starts with new images of the streets and landmarks of the country’s 20 largest cities and expands from there, the company said in a blog post published on Tuesday. Google voluntarily discontinued Street View in Germany in 2011 after opposition from data protection advocates and regulators.

“We’ve been back on the road with our vehicles in Germany since June and will post the latest images as soon as they become available – adding footage from other areas around the country,” Street View program manager Sven Tresp wrote. Google publishes data about where its cameras are moving, he said.

The introduction of Street View in Europe more than a decade ago triggered an investigation by data protection regulators across the European Union. The investigations included an investigation by authorities in Hamburg, where Google’s main base in Germany was located. Some resulted in fines, including one million euros ($1.1 million) in Italy.

One of the biggest concerns at the time was that the cars Google used to take pictures of neighborhoods were also collecting personal data via Wi-Fi networks. The company also fielded complaints from Germans concerned about their privacy.

The Street View investigation took years for regulators to conclude, and the mixed results ultimately helped spark a debate about modernizing the bloc’s privacy rules. It culminated years later in the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, which is considered one of the strictest data protection rules worldwide.

“Times have changed,” Lena Heuermann, a Google spokeswoman, said when asked why the company is restarting the project now. “We see that German users want Street View.” The company said in a separate blog post last month that 91% of survey respondents who knew what Street View was rated it positively.

Google contacted Germany’s data protection watchdog in Hamburg in March to discuss the parameters for publishing the new images, the regulator said in a post on Tuesday. The company has been back on the road with its Street View cameras since last month, Tresp said.

“If you want your house or apartment to be pixelated and therefore object to the processing of your personal data by Google, please send an objection to the company,” the regulator wrote.

Street View covers license plates and people’s faces, Tresp wrote in a blog post: “We always take your privacy seriously.”