Israeli officials this week approved Google’s request to operate its street view cars in the country. The Israeli government offered an online poll about Google Street View and 70% of the respondents voted in favor of allowing Street View to launch in Israel.
The government’s decision comes after a six-month long discussion of a panel of ministers to draft guidelines to ensure Israel’s security would not be breached. “Google has agreed to all of our requests, ” said Moti Ohanai, media advisor to Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor who headed the committee.
Head of The Israeli Law Information and Technology Authority (ILITA), Yoram Hacohen, said in a statement, “As Israel’s privacy regulator, I can say that by the end of this process, ILITA can welcome the launch of Google Street View service in Israel. The terms approved by us, allow the operation of this valuable service while safeguarding the Israeli public’s right to privacy.”
Google has agreed to four conditions as a precursor to the launch of Google Street View in the country:
1. Israel will be able to initiate any civil legal challenges against Google inside Israel, even though the Street View data will be hosted outside the country.
2. Google won’t challenge the authority of Israel’s Law, Information and Technology Authority to initiate criminal or administrative challenges if Google violates state law.
3. Google will give the public a way to request additional blurring of images (beyond Google’s normal level of blurring) after the images are published online.
4.Google must use online and offline channels to inform the public about the Street View service, the right to ask for additional blurring and its planned driving routes. Google’s Street View cars must also be clearly marked so the public can identify them.
What is not made clear is whether any of the sensitive-areas are off-limits for Google. In March, when discussions about Street View’s likely arrival in Israel were making the rounds, government officials were talking about refusing to allow Street View to photograph ‘security installations’ and similar other locations.
The voice of dissent against Google Street View belongs to Mordechai Kedar, a retired Lt.Col. Who served 25 years in Israeli intelligence. He is of the opinion that military locations should be barred from Street View. “God forbid a country should need to reveal its secret facilities just because Google invented something. The lives of people and securities of countries are more important.”
Google uses cars, tricyles and even snomobiles fitted with cameras to take Street View’s 360 degree images, which users of the website can view by zooming in on any given point on a map.
The going has not been smooth for Google Street View, even though it is available in 30 countries across the globe. There have been heated debates in the U.S., Germany, South Korea and other countries with arguments that images could reveal people’s identities without their permission. To put fat into the fire, Google acknowledged, last year, that its vehicles had accidentally collected computer data from wireless Internet networks.
Israel will be the first Middle Eastern country to display its streets on the service and its government seems to have no doubts about its privacy issues. Hacohen commented, “I am happy to mention that Google seriously took our requirements into consideration and that its cooperation enabled this authorization. The commitments taken by Google match the standard in countries which have a high level of data protection.”