Google launched its controversial Street View service in Greece after it settled a spat that had been going on for the past five years over privacy issues.
Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides panoramic views from positions along many streets in the world. It was launched in 2007, in several cities in the United States, and has since expanded to include cities and rural areas worldwide.
The service went live, featuring dozens of Greek locales, after “extensive and detailed” negotiations with officials from Greece’s Data Protection Authority that first raised objections back in 2009.
After Google proved that sensitive information like license plates and people’s faces would be blurred, and proved that the blurring software was working effectively in dozens of other countries already, the government lifted its objections.
Google was allowed to gather photos for Street View in the meantime, while waiting for the government’s green light. Greece is the 56th country where it is now available.
See Greece from Google Street View here.