Apple has activated its street photo service “Ummachen” for all of Germany. This means that the 360-degree images are now available for almost all roads. In the corresponding map app from Apple, which is available for iPhones, iPads and Mac computers, users will in future be able to move virtually through the whole of Germany and view streets, house facades and buildings in an all-round view.
Google had already launched a similar service called “Street View” in 2010, but stopped further development in Germany the following year after public criticism from data and consumer protection groups. That is why the service is not available at all in many places in Germany and in rural areas. In metropolitan areas, on the other hand, the Google recordings are outdated because they were made more than ten years ago.
Apple’s camera cars mostly took their photos in Germany in 2019 and 2020, as numerous samples from WELT showed. Apple does not want to reveal how many kilometers were covered in which period of time and at what intervals this should be repeated, even on request. In the US, the service is called Look Around. It is also available in the UK, Ireland, Canada, Italy, Australia and Japan, among others.
“Apple is conducting survey drives with vehicles around the world to collect data to improve Apple Maps and support the ‘Look Around’ function,” according to a company website. “At some of these locations we may periodically review and collect data to maintain a high quality and up-to-date map.”
In some places inaccessible to cars, the group deployed a portable backpack camera system. According to the information, this includes selected pedestrian zones and certain streets in London, for example.
In Germany, Apple only released the “Look Around” function for Munich last April. With a major update, it is now available for all of Germany. Users can access the surround view by tapping and holding to drop a pin in the Maps app on iPhone and iPad. A small preview with a binoculars symbol then appears on the display. After a tap, the view then enlarges. On a Mac computer, the pin is set with a right-click.
Once the all-round view is open, users can click from one 360-degree photo to the next and in this way virtually drive down streets. Compared to Google’s Street View recordings, which are now more than ten years old, Apple’s views are composed more professionally, so that transitions are rarely recognizable.
Despite the wide coverage of the shots, the feature is missing in some places. For example, where roads are only accessible to residents. Apple’s camera vehicles were apparently not on the road on the German islands either.
Compared to the Google images, Apple’s house facades are hardly pixelated. The group suspects that Apple is in a sensitive area here. “The Apple Maps team has worked very closely with the relevant data protection authorities to ensure all privacy policies and protocols are followed,” it said. In fact, faces and license plates were made unrecognizable in the photos, which was a requirement of data protection officials.
If you want to have your facade made unrecognizable, you can contact Apple. However, the group does not make it easy for its users. The pixelation of a facade is not intended via the “Report a problem” function, which is available in the iPhone app. The only option there is to draw attention to a wrong location or a wrong address. The Maps application for Macs, on the other hand, also has a “Hide pictures of my home” entry.
Alternatively, Apple provides an email address on its website that users can contact. There is also the option of sending a letter – but to an address in Ireland that is listed by the Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision.
The Bavarian data protection officers also confirm the cooperation with Apple. Already at the beginning of the tracking shots, Apple actively approached the authority to discuss the data protection issues relating to this project. “A concept was presented that, from our point of view, was conclusive and has so far not given any indications for supervisory measures,” it says.
Two years ago, the independent federal and state data protection supervisory authorities carried out a data protection assessment of such services in Germany against the background of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and passed a resolution on this.
Accordingly, features that enable a person to be identified, in particular faces and license plates, must be made unrecognizable. “In addition, the provider must inform the public in an appropriate manner before the recording begins,” the decision says.
As part of the balancing of interests, a request by data subjects to have personal data rendered unrecognizable must be taken into account. This request can be exercised at least from the time the recordings are made by the service and also includes images of house facades and private property areas.
Apple publishes in a document when the camera cars take their pictures and where. Apparently there are currently no more vehicles on the road in Germany. According to the listing, the last recordings ended in June. In July there were only recordings in Cologne that were made by a mobile camera backpack system.
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