Federal data protection and transparency officer Hanspeter Thuer said after meetings with representatives of the US Internet giant that they would report back within a week on “if and how the product can be improved swiftly.”<\/p>\n
Thuer’s office said in a statement that he was “expecting concrete proposals.”<\/p>\n
The Street View facility allows users to get a ground level panoramic view of some locations on Google Maps, based on still photographs taken by specially-equipped vehicles.<\/p>\n
Thuer complained last week that some faces or vehicle registration plates in Switzerland had not been wiped out or were insufficiently blurred, allowing people to be identified.<\/p>\n
He had demanded that it be shut down while Google dealt with the problem.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Google welcomed the “constructive discussions” with the data protection official and continued dialogue.<\/p>\n
“We have agreed to cooperate with the federal data protection officer in order to demonstrate the efficiency of our blurring technology and to discuss his misgivings,” a spokesman for Google added.<\/p>\n
Google said volume has increased 80% on Google Maps for Switzerland since Street View was introduced.<\/p>\n
The data protection office said it has received 300 complaints while more had been sent to local authorities.<\/p>\n
Thuer said he wanted to hear of any complaints directly, but also backed Google’s call urging offended browsers to click on the onscreen “report a problem” link.<\/p>\n