The Associated Press reported that Google's Street View service is now available in Greece on Thursday following the approval it had secured from the country's privacy authority. Greece's Data Protection Authority reportedly blocked the ground-level map application in 2009 following several reservations about the service's impact on people's privacy in the country.
According to Greece Culture Minister Panos Panagiotopoulos, who attended the launch of the service in Athens, Google Street View will aid the already financially-beleaguered country to boost tourism numbers, referring to Greece as an "endless archaeological park."
He said, "We have so much to show off. This is a godsend. Everyone knows how difficult things are, with all the obstacles that are there when dealing with the Greek state. We are trying to overcome these difficulties."
Official figures indicate that around 18 million people have visited the country last year, and the government and tourism officials had stated that the number on track could rise to 20 million this year.
The approval to allow Google's map service followed after the Greek privacy watchdog ruled in November that Google has responded to concerns about Street View, such as whether the images of people's faces and vehicle license plates displayed on its service get blurred out, to protect their privacy. The California-based company, which is known for its search engine service, confirmed that the service went live following extensive and detailed negotiations with DPA about the objections to Street View.
Public policy manager Dionisis Kolokotsas for Google's Greek operations said about DPA's review about Street View, "The DPA wanted to see that our blurring technology works - we have demonstrated that it does work in 55 other countries - and safeguard the right of Internet users to report any complaints."
Aside from gathering photos while a formal approval to start the service in the country has been allowed, Google is also permitted to display images of Greece's cultural sites on a related service, AP added.
