On December 4, 2014, the Italian Data Protection Authority (“DPA”) issued a resolution to answer the motion that Google presented in September for a waiver of the notification requirement of Article 13, paragraph 5 of the Italian Privacy Code (as interpreted by the DPA’s resolution of October 15, 2010 towards Google – read here) which would force Google to broadcast and publicize on newspapers and other means, the presence of cameras.
Google Special Collects (variation of Google Street View) is a service that takes and publicizes in Google Maps of 360 degrees photographs of parks, archeological sites, villas, castles, beaches, and the like.
While the DPA partially waived the requirements of its October 15, 2010 resolution for the Google Special Collects project, it orders Google to take the following steps to respect the privacy of the sites’ visitors: (i) inform the companies through which it collects images and partners in the Projects (“Partners”) of the need to respect the privacy law; (ii) inform those companies that, if visitors are present when they take the pictures, they must notify the visitors of the photographing activities and of their right not to be photographed; (iii) publicize the shooting on all Italian websites of Google in the three days preceding the shooting; (iv) notify of the shooting on the websites of the Partners for 10 days (and publication in their newsletters if they exist); (v) post notification signs of the shooting at the entrance if the archeological sites/parks, etcetera are open to the public; (vi) make evident through badges or other marks affixed on cameras, tools and possibly on photographers’ clothes that pictures are being taken and will be made available on Google Maps.
Full resolution December 4, 2014 available (in Italian) here.
Press release December 30, 2014 available here
For more information contact Francesca Giannoni-Crystal