Privacy pirates?
The German government has told Google and other online mapping services to stump up some guidelines on data protection or deal with the German government's market regulations.
Germany's interior minister, Thomas de Maiziere told news service AFP that Google has one last stab at adopting voluntary measures or the government will take matters into its own hands and draw up its own privacy legislation to protect consumers in the country.
"We need a charter guarding private geographical data and we need it drafted... by December 7. A charter could, and I mean could, make regulation superfluous " de Maiziere reportedly said.
His announcement is said to have followed lengthily talks between the country's justice, consumer protection and data protection departments, which themselves were called on in response to public uproar caused by Google's decision to bring Street View to 20 German cities.
Earlier this month some 7,500 people reportedly joined a demonstration in Berlin to raise concerns about personal data being collected by private firms as well as the government itself. It is thought the German people are particularly concerned about protecting their privacy given their experiences under Nazi and Communist dictatorships.
In a bid to smooth things over, Google currently lets home and business owners or tenants in Germany veto the inclusion of their premises on Street View before the images are published, something it doesn't allow in other countries.
AFP reported that hundreds of thousands of people have already chosen to opt out of the service in time to meet the 15 October deadline, but the government is not satisfied that the measures go far enough.
De Maiziere reportedly believes a charter should be formed with data protection authorities and make sure companies are completely transparent about how their services use people's personal data. Yet he threw out calls for companies to comply to a stringent ‘opt in' policy.
"We need geo-services for environmental policy, preventing natural disasters, searching for a home, planning our holidays -- all of that must still be possible in the future," he reportedly said.
Germany's move is only the latest in a string of complaints and investigations into Google's Street View cars, after it emerged they had ‘accidently' gathered data from people's personal unsecured internet connections.
In answer to criticism, the firm has unveiled two tools to try and convince people with privacy worries it is actually on their side.
Google has launched the Transparency Report tool which publishes where and at what time traffic to Google sites was blocked as well as any extra details.
Curious users can also access the company's Government Requests tool, launched in April, which documents governments' requests to take down or disclose information, as well as if Google have cooperated or not. It is updated every six months and has just been refreshed.
"We believe that this kind of transparency can be a deterrent to censorship," David Drummond, SVP of corporate development and Chief Legal Officer at Google wrote in a blog.
"Like all companies, Google's services occasionally experience traffic disruptions. Our new traffic tracking tool helps us and others track whether these interruptions are related to mechanical outages or are government-induced," he added.
There are plenty of graphs to show access by country, for example, one graph shows YouTube has been blocked in Iran since the country's disputed presidential election in June 2009.
