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Just weeks after critics panned Google Buzz for flouting privacy norms Google again finds itself in the range of fire – this time for its Street View service.

The European Union’s privacy regulators have asked the Internet giant to make changes in its Street View service so that conforms to the privacy norms required of all companies operating in Europe.

In a letter written to the company’s global counsel, Peter Fleischer, the Data Protection’s Working Party has asked Google to store the unblurred copies of Street View photos no more than six months, as opposed to the company’s current practice of retaining them for a year. The authorities believe storing the images for a shorter time would minimise overstepping of privacy regulations while avoiding the unauthorised copying of these photographs. Google has also been cautioned against showing people’s faces and license plates in their images.

Moreover, the letter asks Google to communicate the location of the Street View camera or that a Google camera car frequents the area to the residents of the localities being imaged. Street View images cannot be made public before such information is revealed to the residents via local or national media and by posting the same on the Google’s website.

The issue has now become larger with the involvement of the European Justice Commissioner, Viviane Reding. She has stated that Europe follows high standards of data protection, which she expected all companies operating within the EU to follow.

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