The relationship status between Germany and digitization is sometimes “complicated”. Google also had to realize this when the company wanted to introduce the Street View function in 2010 and came across German data protection. Now, after more than 13 years, the outdated Street View maps are finally updated. TECHBOOK reveals what you need to know about it.
Many people have been using Google Maps for everyday navigation for years. And the Street View function is also very popular. Be it to take a look at a certain address in advance, to assess the location of a restaurant or a holiday apartment or to take a short long-distance digital journey. Open the map of Europe in Google Maps and let the little yellow man dangle in the air for a moment. The continent immediately lights up blue, because each small blue line represents a street where you can set the male down. Paris, Poland, Tuscany – so many places can be roamed through virtually using Street View. Only in the middle of this glowing blue, digitally developed map is there a green hole. And that hole is Germany.
Data protection debate much more relaxed
When Google announced in 2008 that it would send its Street View camera vans to major German cities and collect images and data, the company started a major debate about data protection. In a 2010 survey At that time, only 47 percent of those surveyed stated that they would trust Google to actually comply with the applicable data protection regulations. 16 percent even wanted to object to the inclusion of their home, so that Google would have to make the respective houses unrecognizable. In the first few weeks alone, 245,000 objections were raised and Google was faced with a high level of processing work. 200 people were hired especially to process these contradictions and the decision was quickly made to refrain from further updates.
The result of this pronounced need for privacy could be admired over the past 13 years via Street View: A Street View network that is very poorly developed by European standards, in which many houses were made unrecognizable, which earned Germany the name Blurmany at the time (composition from blurry for blurry and Germany). But this state of fuzziness will soon be a thing of the past. Talks were held with the responsible German data protection officer as early as 2019, when Google relocated its headquarters to Ireland and the question of responsibility for data protection arose. But now the starting signal has been given for new Street View maps in Germany.
Also read: The craziest images from Google Street View
Finally new Street View maps
Between June and October 2023, the conspicuous camera vehicles will again be on the road in the 16 federal states and collect up-to-date image material. The strengthening of the competitor Apple may have motivated Google to renew the German Street View material after all. Apple Maps has been showing much more up-to-date street photos since 2022. Although Google also sent out its camera trucks in 2014, 2018 and 2019, the material was only used to complete street names and not for Street View.
The first new Street View maps should then be available from mid-July 2023. Unlike 13 years ago, the company is trying to improve communication and transparency this time. It is important to know that the previous contradictions only apply to the old image material, not to the new one. If you don’t want your home to appear on Street View, you can easily opt out using one of several options. This right is also enforced by the – attention, official German – decision of the conference of independent federal and state data protection authorities on advance objections to StreetView and comparable services. As before, Google must make faces and license plates unrecognizable.
How to appeal
- Objection by email: [email protected]
- Objection by post: Google Germany GmbH / betr. Street View / ABC-Strasse 19 / 20354 Hamburg
- Contradiction directly in Google Street View: Open the Street View view of the location in question. From the drop-down menu, click Report a Problem. Fill the form.
The objection does not have to meet any substantive or formal requirement, nor does the objection have to be justified. However, it is advisable to save the correspondence. In individual cases, Google Germany GmbH may check the justification of the objection – for example, whether it is really the homeowner who is requesting that the object be made unrecognizable. However, the Hamburg data protection officer Thomas Fuchs does not expect that there will be as many contradictions as in 2010. In the meantime, the Germans should have warmed to the tool.
Also read: Google rolls out new map function “Immersive View”.
No time travel through Germany’s streets
The fact that Google Street View updates its map material every two to three years happens worldwide and every time enables a small digital journey through time. If you call up the Street View view of the desired location, you will find the date in the top left and next to it the field “Other periods”. Here you can see how an area has changed in recent years. Apparently, this function will not exist for Germany. Google decided to remove the outdated material from view. It remains unclear whether the data will actually be deleted.