Google Street View Coming to Israel
Israeli officials this week approved Google’s request to operate its Street View cars in the country.
The Israeli Law Information and Technology Authority (ILITA) did not provide details on where Google’s Street View cars will be driving or when they will start, but officials did say that Google will be required to clearly mark its vehicles as Street View cars.
In addition, Google must provide a way for residents to request that their homes or other images be blurred. The search giant automatically blurs faces and license plate numbers.
“As Israel’s privacy regulator I can say that by the end of this process ILITA can welcome the launch of the Google Street View service in Israel,” Yoram Hacohen, sacs louis vuitton head of ILITA, said in a statement. “The terms approved by us, allow the operation of this valuable service while safeguarding the Israeli public’s right to privacy.”
Under the deal, Israeli citizens will also be able to file civil litigation against Google over Street View violations, even though Google is not based in Israel and its Street View database is housed outside the country.
The agency held public hearings on the issue, which “indicated the public support of introducing the service to Israel, alongside concerns relating to privacy,” Hacohen said. “Our purpose was to provide the public with substantive and legal recourse in Israel for any problem or complaint that may arise and I am happy to mention that Google seriously took our requirements into consideration and that its cooperation enabled this authorization. The commitments taken by Google match the standard in countries which have a high level of data protection.”
Reports of Street View coming to Israel first emerged in February, at which point Minister Dan Meridor said the service would be coming to the country “soon.”
Not everyone is welcoming Street View with open arms. In May, Google voluntarily opted out of enlarging its Street View program within Germany. Last year, Google announced plans to extend Street View to 20 German cities by year’s end, including Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Nuremburg, and Düsseldorf. For those who did not want photos of their homes included in Street View, Google gave people until Sept. 15 to notify the company via google.de/streetview. In all, 240,000 people opted out of having their homes on Street View. But continuing in the country apparently wasn’t worth the effort.
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