Japan forces Google climbdown on Street View

"We think the new camera height allows us to get a high-quality image of the street while respecting the privacy of homeowners."

In December 2008 Japanese rights campaigners demanded that Google remove photographs from the Street View function in Google Earth after it captured

Earlier this week, the that Greece's data protection agency banned Google from expanding its Street View service in the country, pending "additional information" from the firm.

Greek authorities want to know how long the images will be kept on Google's database and what measures it will take to make people aware of privacy rights.

Google said that it had taken steps to protect people's privacy."Google takes privacy very seriously, and that's why we have put in place a number of features, including the blurring of faces and licence plates, to ensure that Street View will respect local norms when it launches in Greece," a statement read."We have already spoken with the Hellenic Data Protection Authority to ensure that they understand the importance we place on protecting user privacy."Street View has not been banned in Greece. We have received a request for further information and we are happy to continue discussing these issues with them. We will discuss with them whether it is appropriate for us to continue driving in the meantime."Although that dialogue is ongoing, we believe that launching in Greece will offer enormous benefits to both Greek users and the people elsewhere who are interested in taking a virtual tour of some of its many tourist attractions." tried to prevent the driver of a Google Street Car taking pictures for its Street View service.