For „Gazeta Prawna” daily on Google Street View, 4 March 2010

Everything needs to be done to ensure that Google takes care of personal data protection and complies with the right to privacy - said GIODO during the talk with a journalist of “Gazeta Prawna” daily.<

The journalist Adam Makosz was in particular interested if – according to GIODO - Street View service provided in some countries by Google consisting in disclosing streets’ views on the Internet violated the right to privacy of persons visible on the published pictures.

Michał Serzycki, the Inspector General for Personal Data Protection admitted that he was sceptical about Art. 29 Working Party’s standpoint on that issue, in particular as regards the storage period of original pictures of streets, which were placed on the Internet after anonimisation. Currently, the Art. 29 Working Party proposes that original pictures be stored for 6 months.

- Whereas, in Poland we have gone further – said Michał Serzycki – and after having analysed details of this service we have issued a decision ordering Google to destroy original pictures right after anonimisation.

GIODO believes that, in the era of technological development, everything needs to be done in order to facilitate our life by using technological novelties, on one hand, and to best protect all of us against excessive interference in privacy, on the other one.