back to article Street View applies extra blur to Swiss

Google has agreed to apply extra blurring to faces and number plates on Street View in Switzerland, following some privacy sabre-rattling from the country's head of federal data protection. Soon after the service went live in Switzerland earlier this month, Hans-Peter Thür ordered it to be shut down on the grounds that "many …

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  1. The Indomitable Gall
    FAIL

    Only in Switzerland

    So they're only doing it in Switzerland because of Swiss number-plates.

    Great. It would appear to have escape insular American notice that all Swiss can, and most at some point do, drive across the border into France, Germany, Austria or Italy. They can even carry on driving and find themselves in any European country.

  2. Sebastian Brosig
    Happy

    nice tidy switzerland

    i used to live there, i know where you see weed growing on balconys, strippers stepping out for a fag and hash dealers on the street:

    http://maps.google.ch/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=de&q=Milit%C3%A4rstrasse,+8004+Z%C3%BCrich&sll=46.362093,9.036255&sspn=6.202085,9.876709&ie=UTF8&cd=2&geocode=FQbt0gIdWy2CAA&split=0&ll=47.37735,8.529242&spn=0.005943,0.009645&z=17&layer=c&cbll=47.377311,8.529316&panoid=o8pM5KNC7uvZpooE1736sA&cbp=12,245.35,,0,10.93

  3. Jeremy 2
    Grenade

    "the letters and numbers are bigger"

    What twaddle. A casual Google turns up this fascinating resource:

    http://www.olavsplates.com/switzerland.html

    They appear to be no larger than any other European country's typeface and somewhat smaller than the normal British lettering. If they are bigger, we're talking a millimetre or two.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Big Brother

    to The Indomitable Gall

    The swiss law does not apply to other countries so it would be meaningless for the swiss authorities to ban goggle maps on the ground that they don't protect the privacy of a swiss citizen when in italy or france.

    Much more important is the fact that swiss number plates are definitely not larger than UK number plates therefore it appears that our government should have raised the same concerns (if they cared about our privacy)

  5. Robert von Knobloch
    Unhappy

    Small digited Swiss numberplates

    As a Brit living in Germany close to the Swiss border, I can definitively state that the Swiss have the number plates with the smallest numbers and letters. All Europeans now have harmonised (more or less) number plates, so that the digits are all of a similar size (Germany, France, Spain, UK etc.). The Swiss, not being in Europe, don't do this. Their digits are even smaller that those found across the Atlantic (as I recall).

    I smell excrement of male cow.

    p.s. If this get posted twice, sorry - I had to renew my account and the first post wasn't confirmed.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Obscuring license plates is a good idea in Switzerland.

    Swiss license plates are issued on a regional/Kantonal basis. Many Kantons publish the license plate together with the name and addresse of the owner; either online, in print and sometimes both. Very handy if you are double parked, but not conceived for a 'Googled' world.

    The one aspect I don't understand. With the exception of some very old plates, Swiss plates are smaller than those of it's European neighbors.

  7. Aaron Gilliland
    Headmaster

    Solution!

    Instead of blurring, stamp an image of Heidi onto all the faces and plates.

    Then we can all be reminded of her courage and fortitude.

    And delicious chocolate.

    And secret bank accounts.

  8. Richard 20
    Thumb Up

    Great Sub-heading…

    Given the utter dross El Reg normally serves-up in this department I thought you should be congratulated on this occasion.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    (untitled)

    what a joke...

    it really makes my blood boil over this privicy nonsense...

    so,,, its like this....

    wandering around streetview, you spot a car and can identify a number on a number plate. You fill a form in and send it to DVLA, pay your money and then they will tell you who owns the car. no difrent than what you can do walking down the street yourself....

    ok, so if it was in real time, or you can scan for number plates to locate a car... yeah, its a privacy issue as someone could stalk you form the comfort of there computer....

    what are the chances of casualy viewing street view and spotting somebody you know driving down the road, or walking down the street.... if they are that bothered, they were proberbly somewhere they should not have been...

    I have more issues with the council run street cameras slaping me with tickets for stopping on double yellow lines while i unload my car, and having to go to court to get the fine dropped....

  10. raving angry loony

    nurses

    re: nurse pay. 20-26k (band 5) for a high-stress, shift based hospital nursing job that requires a university degree plus extra certifications? No wonder nurses in the UK are leaving in droves. Only place that seems to pay (and treat) nurses worse is Japan.

  11. deadlockvictim

    @ravingangryloony

    Ah yes, but how does Google treat the reg-plates of Japanese nurses in Switzerland? Or should one not feed the troll?

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