German streets back on Google Street View: first update in 14 years

Google adds new images of German streets to Street View for the first time in 14 years. The company stopped taking Street View photos in Germany in 2010 after objections from privacy regulators.

Anyone who has been traveling in Germany in recent years will undoubtedly have noticed: Germany is not on Google Street View. At least not in most of the country. In a number of major cities, including Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Hamburg, Street View images can be seen on Google Maps, but they are very outdated: they were taken in 2008 and 2009.

The reason is that German regulators restricted the Google service in 2010 due to privacy concerns. Since then, the Street View cars have stopped driving on German roads. But that is now changing. Google has announced Thursday Street View in Germany to update again.

From June 22, the new images of German streets will gradually appear on Google Maps. First it concerns roads in the twenty cities that the Street View cars had already passed in 2008 and 2009 and then new areas.

Own home can be blurred

Google says it is working closely with the German privacy regulators. The company is going to remove the old Street View photos from German streets.

Google automatically blurs faces and license plates on the Street View images. Users who do not want their own home to be seen on the Google service can submit an objection, after which those photos will be blurred.

When in your place of residence?

Street View cars regularly drive around in the Netherlands to shoot new images. On this page you can check whether your place of residence will soon be next.

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