Google Street View in Germany

Google Street View car in Berlin, April 2022

Between 2008 and 2010, Google ran Google Street View cars in multiple municipalities across Germany, triggering public and political resistance due to privacy concerns. By the time Street View coverage of 20 cities became available to the public in November 2010, 244,237 households, accounting for 3% of the total population of these cities, requested that depictions of their houses be blurred. Until 2023, coverage in Germany was sparse, and photographs were taken in 2008–2010. On 25 July 2023, Google rolled out new Street View coverage dating back to 2022, but the 2008–2010 coverage was removed from the site.

Background

Initial rollout and opposition (2008–2010)

Street View car in Berlin, June 2008

Google began running Street View cars in Germany in 2008. The company soon gained public backlash from residents, privacy advocates, and public officials out of privacy concerns. The opposition was especially considerable due in large part to the country's legacy of historical mass surveillance programs by the Nazi and East German governments, inspiring strict privacy laws. The earliest opposition against Street View coverage occurred in mid-2008 in Molfsee.

In 2010, Google signaled its intention to launch Street View coverage in Germany by the end of the year. In February, Ilse Aigner, the then-Federal Minister for Consumer Protection, decried the coverage as "a million-fold violation of the private sphere". In April and May, the company faced controversy surrounding the accidental collection of 600 GB of open WiFi network data within the past three years; the company was eventually fined $189,225 USD by the Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information [de] (German: Hamburgischer Beauftragter für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit, HmbBfDI), which was just below the maximum fine of $195,000, in April 2013.

In response to privacy concerns, Google agreed to allow German residents to preemptively blur their homes prior to publishing Street View coverage.

Street View coverage in Germany's 20 largest cities were rolled out between 2 November and 18 November 2010; coverage on Oberstaufen was the first to be released. By the time the rollout began, 244,237 households, representing 3% of the total population of the covered cities, filed a request to blur their homes in advance. The term "Blurmany" was thus coined in reference to numerous houses being blurred out. Although the Kammergericht ruled that Google could capture photographs at street-level, the company eventually abandoned further plans to publish coverage beyond the select cities in April 2011.

Second rollout (2022–2023)

On 8 June 2023, Google announced the rollout of new Street View coverage throughout Germany, dating back to 2022. The company also announced its plan to capture additional coverage starting on 22 June. To avoid another political fallout, the company worked with HmbBfDI to ensure its coverage was in compliance with privacy laws. One of the most notable privacy measures implemented was the deletion of old 2008–2010 coverage.

Street View coverage across Germany was released on 25 July 2023.

Timeline of introductions

Date Major locations added
Tuesday, November 2, 2010Germany Part of Oberstaufen and landmarks as: Bundestag and Victory's Column (Berlin); Königsplatz (Munich); Köhlbrandbrücke (Hamburg); Theaterplatz (Dresden), Castle Solitude (Stuttgart). Adding to it, some football stadiums were added: Allianz Arena, Imtech Arena, Millerntor-Stadion, Signal Iduna Park, Arena AufSchalke, BayArena and Rhein-Energie Stadion.
Thursday, November 18, 2010Germany Berlin, Bielefeld, Bochum, Bonn, Bremen, Dortmund, Dresden, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Cologne, Leipzig, Mannheim, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Wuppertal.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012World museums through Google Art Project:
Germany Altes Museum, Pergamon Museum
Monday, May 20, 2013World museums through Google Art Project:
Germany Museum Kunstpalast, Städel
Wednesday, January 13, 2016Germany Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg
Tuesday, July 25, 2023Germany Coverage released of most towns, cities, villages, major and rural roads in Germany.
  Street View   Street View inside buildings

References

  1. ↑ Kremp, Matthias; Lischka, Konrad (2 November 2010). "Alpine Town Among First Locations Shown: Google Offers Glimpse of German Street View". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  2. ↑ Pace, Gina (17 August 2010). "Google Street View Launch Sends Germany Scrambling". CBS News. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  3. ↑ James, Kyle (27 August 2010). "Google Street View Maps Cause Stir In Germany". NPR. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 Gray, Jeremy (8 March 2024). "Germany vs Google: How Street View Won the Privacy Battle in Europe's Most Private Country". PetaPixel. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  5. ↑ "Privacy Concerns: German Towns Saying 'Nein' to Google 'Street View'". Der Spiegel. 29 September 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  6. ↑ Cudney, Zachary (June 2026). "Google gazes and digital seams: Visual epistemologies between satellite view and Street View". Digital Geography and Society. 10: 100167. doi:10.1016/j.diggeo.2026.100167. Retrieved 23 October 2026. In 2008, protests in Molfsee, Germany, resulted in a dramatic reconsidering of Street View's ability to capture images in the country. [...] Germany re-joined the rest of Europe in 2023 with coverage...{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)
  7. 1 2 3 O’Brien, Kevin J. (29 April 2010). "New Questions Over Google's Street View in Germany". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  8. ↑ "'Million-Fold Violation of the Private Sphere': German Minister Takes on Google Street View". Der Spiegel. 8 February 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  9. 1 2 Miller, Claire Cain; O'Brien, Kevin J. (23 April 2013). "Germany's Complicated Relationship With Google Street View". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  10. ↑ Kiss, Jemima (15 May 2010). "Google admits collecting Wi-Fi data through Street View cars". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  11. ↑ "German Street View goes live with enhanced privacy". BBC News. 2 November 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  12. ↑ "Navigating Controversy: Google Launches Street View Germany". Der Spiegel. 18 November 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  13. ↑ "Thousands of Germans opt out of Google Street View". BBC News. 21 October 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  14. ↑ "Bilder aus "Blurmany"" [Pictures of "Blurmany"]. Die Zeit (in German). 18 November 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  15. 1 2 jbuck (8 June 2023). "Google to update Street View in Germany this year". Virtual Streets. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  16. ↑ Farivar, Cyrus (21 March 2011). "One less hurdle". Deutsche-Welle. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  17. ↑ McCarthy, Caroline (10 April 2011). "Report: Google nixes new Street Views of Germany". CNET. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  18. ↑ Oates, John (11 April 2011). "Google calls halt on German Street View". The Register. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  19. ↑ Vonau, Manuel (9 June 2023). "Google Street View is back in Germany after 10+ year halt". Android Police. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  20. ↑ Lopez, John (9 June 2023). "Google Street View Cars Are Back in Germany With New Data Privacy Regulations". Tech Times. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  21. ↑ Sarangapurkar, Vishnu (11 June 2023). "Google Maps Street View is making a big comeback in Germany". Android Central. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  22. ↑ Stephanie, Aggi; Bodoni, Stephanie (25 July 2023). "Google Street View to Post First New Pictures From Germany in a Decade". Bloomberg. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  23. ↑ "Neue Bilder bei Google Street View" [New Pictures on Google Street View]. HmbBfDI (in German). 25 July 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  24. ↑ "Staatliche Museen zu Berlin expand Google Art Project". Berlin, Germany: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. 3 April 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  25. ↑ "The best things come in small (Street View!) packages". 13 January 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2017.