Google street view to commence filming in Austria

Google is to commence the taking of photos for its Google Street View service in Austria from Thursday following a long break in the process.

The US giant showed off one of its cars in Vienna on Wednesday, that will be taking photos for the online service, where users can access 360-degree panoramic views of streets, Xinhua reported.

The company had initially begun the process in 2010, despite being hit by a temporary ban from the Data Protection Commission (DKS), when it was found the vehicles were allegedly recording potentially personal data from wireless computer networks as they drove by.

The company argued this was unintentional.

Though the ban was lifted the following year the company decided not to pursue the process any further. Camera footage from then is also not going to be used, a company spokesperson stated.

On July 3 the company registered its intent to begin the process again. To do so it must meet conditions set by the privacy authority that include that only photos may be taken and not videos, that all data must be stored at a central register, and this time it may not record data from wireless networks.

The main cities of Vienna, Graz, and Linz are expected to be completed by November.

--IANS

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