Microsoft photographed houses without consent

The car is full of technology, the structure of the camera photographed a facade after the other: on behalf of Microsoft were also on Tuesday in the streets of Nuremberg, to collecting camera cars to take photos.

These images will be published later in the Bing maps Streetside map service on the Internet. At the same time, criticism of the software group was loud again. Because Microsoft plans that concerned citizens can demand a pixelation of their property until after the release of the panoramic images on the Internet. Data protection, however, require a preliminary opposition period.

«We are in talks with Microsoft,» said the speaker for Internet services at the Bavarian State Office for data protection authority (BayLDA), Heike Dümmler, on Tuesday in Ansbach. On Monday, the camera cars started in the Nuremberg, Fürth and Erlangen to take pictures for the panoramic service.

The people a possibility must be given advance, stressed Dümmler. Their authority is nationwide responsible for discussions with Microsoft, because the Group has its Germany seat in Unterschleißheim (district of Munich).

Microsoft sees things differently: the contradiction is part of the application and therefore easy to use. «We come far to the citizens», said Microsoft spokesman Thomas Baumgärtner. An advance of opposition do addresses, names, phone numbers, however, this would have to - gathered more data. «A preliminary opposition has disadvantages. People without Internet access could submit their opposition by form or via a telephone hotline. As the data protection code also provides it.

No obligation for a preliminary objection is laid down in the code, which was signed by companies like Microsoft and Google and the policy has approved. But Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) had threatened in April to ban the publication of the recordings Microsoft people should no way to a preliminary objection to have.

A distance of 150 000 km - mainly wants to be photographed Microsoft in the coming weeks and months in metropolitan areas. The 29-year-old Antonio Radic, who controls one of the camera cars in Nuremberg, has not seen, as he said has protests: wave many people would the camera even at. The city of Nuremberg showed themselves little excited, however. The missing possibility to advance conflict, a spokesman said: "we see this with great skepticism. We advise citizens to examine the publications.

In the summer, the images should be expected to to see on the Internet. The national data protection supervisory authority was confident to have found a solution then.