Google is having a hard time in Europe these days. Whether its employees are being convicted of violating privacy laws in Italy or it’s being accused of copyright infringement in Germany, the company is facing opposition wherever it goes.
Now, the company that has set out to digitize everything from ocean bottoms to outer space has received a warning from the European Union that it needs to do more to warn people before sending out cameras to record images for its popular Street View feature.
According to the Associated Press, the European Union not only asked the search engine to provide more notice, but also to shorten the time it keeps these photos on file. Currently, Google keeps the images for one year and EU regulators requested this be shortened to six months. Google said in a statement that the year-long period is “legitimate and justified”.
Special software blurs faces and license plates to help prevent identifying information from showing up on the site, which has been known to catch some embarrassing moments.
Already, the company has backed out of Greece and agreed to remove raw images of Germany. The EU cited “high standards for data protection” in its warning, saying that “all companies play according to the rules of the game.”
According to The Telegraph, Google said it “would appeal the case, claiming the ruling was an attack on freedom of speech on the internet.”
