Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Internet search giant Google might not be able to introduce its Street View service in Poland because Polish authorities say it is illegal.

The Inspector General for Personal Data Protection (GIODO) is checking whether the service does not infringe privacy laws, according to daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. It is already known that GIODO is against Google storing photos of Polish streets on its server for 12 months.

“GIODO released its decision demanding Google destroy its source photographs immediately after they are placed on the internet,” said GIODO’s Małgorzata Kałużyńska-Jasak. The reason? The photos show passers-by and cars with legible number plates – personal data which Google does not have the right to gather, according to GIODO.

Similar restrictions were placed on Onet-owned Zumi, Norc and Cyclomedia. GIODO and the Human Rights Defender – a citizens’ ombudsman – are set to establish a list detailing what can and can't be done under Polish law when uploading pictures of public places to the web.

Poland AM