Germans and privacy: it’s complicated

A highly recommended article in PetaPixel, “Germany vs Google: How Street View won the privacy battle in Europe’s most private country”, explores an issue I often discuss in my classes (which usually sparks a lively debate thanks, among other things, to the regular presence of German students): how Google Street View was initially unavailable in Germany because so many Germans objected to having cars with cameras photographing their streets and houses, and reacted by requesting the pixelation of the facades of their homes to the point of making the product unusable.

Last June, Google re-launched the service in Germany, and this time it was received positively, a striking change of position at a society-wide level: over time, a certain collective reflection and awareness of the benefits of having such a quality map of any city in the world made Germans realize that they had initially over-reacted, albeit in the context of complex historical precedents that still influence the country’s relationship with privacy.

I’m talking about the Reichstag Fire Decree, officially known as the Reich President’s Decree for the Protection of the People and the State, imposed by the Nazis shortly after the German parliament was set ablaze on February 27, 1933, abrogating rights laid down in the Weimar Constitution. This same decree was later used as a legal basis to…