A German court has ruled that Google's Street View mapping service is legal, according to German news site Deutsche Welle.
The ruling, handed down by the Berlin State Supreme Court, stemmed from a lawsuit filed by a German woman, who claimed that Google violated her property and privacy rights by posting photos of her home on Google Maps.
The court rejected her argument, Deutsche Welle reported. The woman claimed that the cameras mounted to Street View cars were high enough (9.84 feet) to see over her hedge, but the court said the photos were considered street level and were authorized because they were taken on a public street.
Last year, Google announced plans to extend Street View to 20 German cities by year's end, including Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Nuremburg, and Düsseldorf. For those who did not want photos of their homes included in Street View, Google gave people until Sept. 15 to notify the company via google.de/streetview. In all, 240,000 people opted out of having their homes on Street View.
Given the fact that Google blurs faces and licenses plates, and will blur entire homes in Germany if asked, the court found that Street View has sufficient privacy protections in place.
In September, Street View expanded to all seven continents, but not everyone is thrilled by its growth. The service debuted in Germany in November, but only after Google agreed to blur the homes of those who requested it. In October, Italian officials required Google to provide adequate warnings about when its Street View vehicles would be passing through. A month before, Google was banned from expanding Street View in the Czech Republic due to security concerns, and it is currently trying to get Swiss officials to lift a privacy-related ban that has prevented it from updating Street View photos there for more than a year
Officials in Israel, however, said they are working with Google officials to provide Street View access in the country "as soon as possible."
Yesterday, French privacy officials handed down a fine of 100,000 Euros against Google for the unauthorized collection of Wi-Fi data via its Street View cars.