The top Swiss privacy official said Friday that he is suing Google for failing to include adequate privacy safeguards in its Street View service, which allows people to get street-level pictures of locations plugged into Google Maps. Swiss Data Protection and Information Commissioner Hanspeter Thür announced in a statement that he has decided to take legal action after Google refused to take various measures suggested by his office to protect personal privacy on its Street View service.

The statement noted that faces and vehicle number plates on Street View are not "sufficiently unrecognizable from the point of view of data protection, especially where the persons concerned are shown in sensitive locations, e.g. outside hospitals, prisons or schools." The commissioner's office added that even when faces are blurred by Google, the zoom function enables a user to enlarge images of individuals. In addition, Thür's office also noted that the zoom function allows users to see into private areas such as over fences and walls. "This means that privacy in enclosed areas (gardens, yards) is no longer guaranteed," the statement said. Google Global Privacy Counsel Peter Fleischer said in a statement that the firm "met with the DPA before and after the launch [of the Swiss version of Street View], explaining our technology and, where requested, proposing steps that would reinforce Street View's privacy-protection technology and assuage any concerns." He said the firm believes "Street View is completely legal" and plans to vigorously defend it in court.