Greece blocks Google Street View

If you’ve ever been worried that Google Street View might expose your closet smoking habit, Greece might be the country for you to hang out in for a while. There, the Hellenic Data Protection Authority has banned Street View “until it provides further guarantee about privacy.” Though Street View is intended to show, well, the view of the street in a 360-degree panorama, the camera lens also inadvertently captures folks going about their every-day activities: sitting in cafés, walking down the street hand in hand with a secret lover….

Though bad habits and infidelity are not necessarily the issues Greece officials are concerned about, they do want to ensure that Street View complies with local privacy laws. Until Google can provide “further clarification … about how long it will store images for and the measures in place to make people aware of privacy rights,” you’re free to go about your clandestine business on the streets of Greece.

[Via CNN]