EU data protection chief warns Google of privacy problems with Street View

The EU's top data protection supervisor said Thursday that Google Inc.'s "Street View" map and imaging feature could pose privacy problems if it is launched in Europe.

Peter Hustinx said the Internet map service program would have to comply with the privacy rights of individuals in European countries.

"I would encourage Google to think about how to do this," Hustinx told reporters. "Making pictures on the street is in many cases not a problem, but making pictures everywhere is certainly going to create some problems. I'm quite sure they are aware of this."

After privacy complaints, Google has already started to automatically blur faces of people captured in street photos taken for the program in the United States.

Although Google's Street View service was not the first to augment online maps with photos, the detail and breadth of images on the site surprised and unsettled many users when it launched last year.

Google spokesman Larry Yu said Wednesday the company was tweaking the system by blurring faces.

He said Google was not only responding to privacy complaints in the U.S. but also trying to head off legal or cultural objections that might emerge as Street View expands into other countries.

Calls to Google's London offices Monday were not immediately returned.

Hustinx also told reporters Thursday that Google and other search engines could face legal action if they do not comply with data protection rules.

An EU report last month on search engines recommended changes to their practices to meet European data retention and privacy rules.

"Complying with European data protection law is going to be part of their business success or failure. If they would ignore it, it is likely to lead to two (court) cases, and I think they would be hit hard," Hustinx said.

The report, drafted by the EU's 28 data protection supervisors, including Hustinx, said search engines had to follow European data protection rules regardless of their headquarters' location, because they were making available their services in Europe or had set up regional offices in the EU.

Although the group of privacy officers have no policy powers, their report could lead to action by the EU's executive commission and national authorities which enforce European data protection rules.