BERLIN, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- German data-protection officials said they will take on a big enemy: Google Inc., which has announced plans to launch its Street View service in 20 German cities by the end of this year.
The people at Google are known to be smart. Their plans for the Street View mapping service, which features street-level photographs of public and private buildings, drew significant opposition in Germany when it was first unveiled this year.
Things became even worse when Google admitted in May that it had collected private data sent from unprotected wireless networks while taking photos for its Street View service. Apparently, the cars were loaded with equipment able to store the wireless data -- including passwords and sensitive private information. Google apologized, saying that the storing was an accident, but politicians in Germany went on a rampage, well aware that ordinary Germans are almost obsessive about the country's stringent privacy laws.
The company then decided to lay low. That is until last week -- and this was when the smartness shone through.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and most of the Cabinet ministers were on holiday when Google announced Aug. 10 that its Street View service would go live in 20 cities -- among them Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Frankfurt -- before year's end. UPI
