After 5 Years In Dispute, Greece Approves Google Maps Street View Images

ABC.com reported yesterday that Google Maps has launched street view images in Greece.

According to the story, Greece authorities blocked Google Maps Street Views five years ago because of privacy issues.

According to ABC.com:

Company officials said the service went live after extensive and detailed negotiations with the country’s Data Protection Authority, which last year lifted objections made to the project in 2009.

The ABC.com report claims Google gathered Street View photos of Greece while it was awaiting approval from the country, and currently has images for approximately two-thirds of the area it is planning to map.

“We have so much to show off. This is a godsend,” said Greece’s Culture Minister Panos Panagiotopoulos during the launch event in Athens, “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.”

Before Greece allowed Google Street View images, ABC.com said the country’s Data Protection Authority wanted to make sure Google’s blurring technology would work, obscuring details like people’s faced and vehicle license plates.

“We have demonstrated that it does work in 55 other countries – and safeguard the right of Internet users to report any complaints,” said Google’s Greek public policy manager Dionisis Kolokotsas.

Here are a few of the Google Map Street View images users are now able to see from Greece:

Old town of Corfu

Greece’s Mykonos Port

Greece’s seaport town of Nafplio