How a small German Village killed Google Street View

Google Street View exists since 2007 and is available today on almost every phone and in almost every European country. Only in Germany the situation is different: Here you will find huge blank spots on the map and only recordings that are up to 15 years old. How did that happen? Turns out: There is a quite funny story behind it, that I'm gonna tell you in today's video.
A film by Matthias Schwarzer.
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Here are the articles mentioned in my video:
The first news about the Molfsee protest, published in 2008:
rp-online.de/digitales/intern...
Molfsee is searching for a loophole in the law (2008):
www.stern.de/digital/online/s...
More about the Molfsee protest in 2009:
taz.de/Molfsee-gegen-Street-V...
The British village Broughton stops a Street View Car:
www.theguardian.com/technolog...
Ratingen wants to charge Google:
www.computerbild.de/artikel/c...
Jeff Jarvis about the German Street View problem:
www.zeit.de/digital/internet/...
Activist Jens Best wants to publish the pixelated houses:
www.zeit.de/digital/datenschu...
A theory why Germans care so much about data protection:
bigthink.com/strange-maps/ger...
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Did you like this video? You can support me on Patreon: / matthiasschwarzer
Or become a channel member on KZbin!
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▪️INSTAGRAM:
/ matthiasschwarzer
▪️FACEBOOK:
/ matthiasschwarzertrave...
▪️TIKTOK:
/ matthiasschwarzertravel
▪️CONTACT:
[e-mail]
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Intro Music:
MÆT - Start Again
Music:
Epidemic Sound
#google #googlestreetview #germany #internet #socialmedia

[@MatthiasSchwarzerEnglish]

A quick update on this story: Today (July 25) Google released new images of Germany in Street View, just as mentioned in the video. And surprisingly, these are not just shots of larger cities, as previously announced. Also smaller villages are available now. Including: Molfsee.

[@darthgonk4398]

Just checked and straight away went to see Molfsee

[@darthgonk4398]

@@Jack_Russell_Brown It's not as hot where I live but it stays above 30°C and the worst part of humidity. Lowest humidity is 60% and highest I've seen here is 90%

[@ShionWinkler]

@@darthgonk4398 45-49°C every day. yay summer. 😎

[@darthgonk4398]

@@ShionWinkler (⁠@⁠_⁠@⁠)

[@TheKingofTruth]

It is simply a lie, I drive quite often in Germany with GPS and Streetview. and the latest photos are from 2021

[@mcbohdo]

I always was super annoyed looking at the pixelated houses in street view. However, it's the same Google that secretly collected network data while mapping the streets, so being concerned about privacy issues is kind of justified.

[@grandtraveller]

So you might not be using a smart phone nor are you allowing your family to do so, because that's by far much dangerous.

[@mcbohdo]

@@grandtraveller I did not imply not to use any of these services. I think we can use them to our benefit while still keeping a healthy dose of mistrust, especially regarding Google and Meta.

[@jk9554]

iirc it was data from open/unsecured networks. If you secured your WiFi to a minimum (I think even WEP was sufficient, although even back then WEP was already superseded by WPA), you were fine. It's not exactly google's fault if you broadcast unencrypted data in your neighborhood...

[@vexjujinko4554]

@@jk9554 "I may have seen you naked, but thats only because you didn't lock your door" "Well Mr. Google, why the fuck did you enter my house in the first place?" Even if the networks are encrypted, their SSID(/name) can now be linked to a geographical location and associated pictures

[@lordfunk777]

I don't think you have anything of value for them anyways

[@Chili_667]

The cool thing about it is for the few places that actually have street view in Germany, it's like a time capsule. You can go to maps and when you zoom in close enough for it to change from the normal map to street view you'll see newer buildings disappear or older buildings pop up. You can see a lot of older cars on the street that have become a rare sight 15 years on. Especially if it's places you remember from back in the day it's really interesting to look at.

[@redstonerelic]

On the desktop site, you can view all the times that the streetview car has come thru, so the old pictures will not be lost when they get updated!

[@icannotbeseen]

a dad my car gave up trying to fix 15 years ago or so is still visible on maps lol

[@llanieliowe794]

If you go to Red Road in Glasgow on desktop you can see the biggest residential buildings in Western Europe disappear by changing years

[@DoiInthanon1897]

As a non-German I don’t even know what the present-say Germany looks like or how it varies from 2008 Germany. Will be cool to see how much the new coverage differs from the old.

[@ItsartoTV]

I saw a Tram from 2014 It still drives this day

[@SewardWriter]

Street View is weirdly useful. My dad has dementia, and I managed to calm him down by showing him the house where he lived before the care facility, and where Mom still is. It assured him that she was safe. Not sure what I'd have done without it.

[@fietae]

You could have taken a photo. Not that hard to think of. I wouldnt be happy if google had more photos of my house than i did

[@SewardWriter]

@@fietae I was with him at the centre where he lives. How am I going to take a picture of a house on the other side of town when I'm activity calming someone with dementia?

[@TheSeriousLukas]

@@SewardWriter Take a picture before going there? Use Factime?

[@Rilch]

@@SewardWriter idk didn't you say mom lives there? have her take a photo?

[@sylvester4207]

​@@TheSeriousLukasIt isnt that deep bro

[@colorbugoriginals4457]

lived in Germany when this happened. the fear often stated was of criminals using maps to more easily find homes that looked worth targeting. among us tech folk it was often joked that robbers will simply look for the blurred out homes to hit and pass by the unhidden ones.

[@kameljoe21]

If you ran the numbers you might find that those hidden were targeted far more... Germany is stupid and their laws are stupid. You can walk down the road in Germany and see all of that yet they want it blocked on street view. Really anyone with a phone today can add photos of those blurred out houses. I think there is a website somewhere online that show blurred houses and the photos taken by people as a way to stick it to the people blurred them.

[@cacklebarnacle15]

Molfsee has a pretty cool Freilichtmuseum (open air museum), in wich you can see and enter 60 historic buildings. The special thing about this is, that these buildings have been taken from their original places all over Schleswig-Holstein and been transportet brick by brick, rebuild in the original orientation and then gotten a historically accurate interior as well. The oldest buildings are around 500 years old. And you can see the different cultural influences mirrored in the buildings as well. There are also several businesses run in these houses, like a bakery, a smith, a creamery etc. and you can buy goods from their productions.

[@SIC647]

Thank you! I love those places, I will make a note of Molfsee.

[@cacklebarnacle15]

@@SIC647 definitely check the buildings from the northern most areas (Nordfriesland and Schleswig-Flensburg) for the door placement and hight. iirc those areas were repeatedly under danish rule and one of the kings decided, that all main doors should face north and be so low, that everyone exiting the building would be forced to 'bow to the king in the north' or something like that. at least that was what i was told

[@daniellewilson8527]

That sounds so cool 1ool

[@SIC647]

@cacklebarnacle15 To be completely correct, those regions weren't under Danish rule. Rather, the Danish kings were the German dukes of those regions. The regions were technically still German länder. Yes, it is confusing. And for about 500 years it didn't make any difference, until a stupid Danish king decided to make Schleswig-Holstein fully a part of Denmark (yay, nation states, the concept has only brought good things with it 🤥 ). Got his ass kicked. /Dane

[@SIC647]

@cacklebarnacle15 But by the way, the door placement was common in the whole if Denmark back then. Low doors meant that less heat escaped from the home (heat travels upwards). That is all there is to it. You see it in Iron Age houses and right up until the late 1800s. There is an actual travel log from an Arabian merchant who visited Denmark in the Viking Age. He recounts that when he was going to enter a noble's home, they had such a door. He sat down on his butt and scooted in, as he would bow to no one. In the text, he sounds quite proud of himself for having outsmarted them. I reality it had nothing to do with bowing, and the Danes he visited probably though he was a wierdo who didn't even know how to enter a house.

[@crybabyteej]

As someone from Grafenwöhr who was forced to move away as a kid because of my stepdad at the time being US Army-it always made me sad I could never seen how my home village was doing for so long. Thanks to this video, now makes sense why I never learned of these 'protests' and why my village wasn't ever viewable. Thankfully, after 20 years, I finally got to go home again last year in 2022 and makes me happy that in 2023-I can finally view our Stadtpark, where I have so many childhood memories, on street view.

[@MarkPentler]

Well, this is just absolutely lovely 🥹

[@BoostedTele]

Im sorry to be the one to tell you this but Grafenwöhr, same as most of the upper palatinate area, still isnt on Street View even though the new Germany coverage was now released. There is still a lot of coverage missing outside of big cities, even though its much better than before.

[@crybabyteej]

@@BoostedTele guess I out to clarify that my version of 'street view' is being able to see businesses near our park and see said park in the background in today's time. I'll take what I can get to see windows of my home village-been homesick for so long (I'm 33 now) so any little nuggets I can get, I'll take it with grateful hands. 🖤❤️💛

[@crybabyteej]

@@MarkPentler hopefully some day, in the NEAR future, we can have legit street view and not me relying on businesses to see updates of my village's development progress. 😔

[@lucbloom]

Awwww

[@thespacexplorer6552]

fun fact: here in Hamburg, in the south part at the industrial area, there's an old abandoned factory from the early 19 hundreds. And it's been abandoned since 2009. Today it's a very run down place, however the street view is from 2008, so the footage seen is when the factory was still in use. That really shows just how outdated google street view is in Germany, because only very rarely will you see footage from anywhere after 2008. Sometimes you'll see some footage from 2010 if you're lucky, but anything later is basically impossible to find.

[@Yays_A1]

What is the factory called?

[@thespacexplorer6552]

@@Yays_A1 New-York Hamburger Gummi-Waaren Compagnie

[@fabib2031]

Apple maps is newer

[@thespacexplorer6552]

@@fabib2031 I'm aware, I watched the video, but I am specifically talking about Google maps.

[@MCTogs]

There isn't any street view in that street or anywhere near it? Just a 360 view of the inside of a building

[@KrisThroughGlass]

I loved Asterix and Obelix comics as a kid. "The year is 50 BC. Gaul is entirely occupied by the Romans. Well, not entirely... One small village of indomitable Gauls still holds out against the invaders." (Wikipedia). I like Molfsee 😅

[@robertgolding]

Gaul is called France in modern times. Why do people insist on thinking Gaul was Germany? Even today a gallic type means french.

[@sakrira]

@@robertgolding why do you assume they thought it was Germany? Nothing implies they didn't know it was France. I have also never heard of anyone thinking that, but it might be because I'm German myself.

[@telebubba5527]

@@robertgolding Because of the Franks who originated in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. It's also the origin of the name of France. And also Charlemagne who united France, Switzerland, Austria and........Germany, ie The Holy Roman Empire. Funnily enough not a lot of people remember that the western half of France were one with England and that several British legends really took place in France.

[@cosettapessa6417]

@@telebubba5527gallia was now france for romans.

[@TremereTT]

@@telebubba5527 Well Karl der Große funded it. He didn't speak French. He grew up speaking German/Franconian and learned some Latin from his church teachers.

[@tonycutler3769]

Great video! Honestly, I was surprised when I saw your sub count, I was expecting at least 100x that, the quality of this video is on the level of the KZbinrs with hundreds of thousands to a few million subs. You deserve way more!

[@southerncomfortuk]

Hear hear - superb presentation 👍

[@mbirth]

I remember when StreetView was introduced in Germany back then, the media spun it like it's some kind of live stream of everyone's living room window. The police even said they might be able to use this for chasing criminals.

[@frtzkng]

Name a more iconic duo than old German people and technological illiteracy

[@David-sq2en]

LOL, the cops rally though they don't need to chase criminals and they were going to use street view in their phones instead? OMG

[@ventreal4292]

@@David-sq2enLOL OMG

[@michaelmarchanda]

@@David-sq2en No they didn´t seriously. But there als always some people who don´t understand such concepts. Like US Kongress Members about Tik Tok.

[@luiskp7173]

I think it was wishful thinking. I mean live real time surveillance 24/7 is a cop’s wet dream!

[@SIC647]

How don't you have more subscribers?? 🤯 Great video, excellent research, filming, layout, editing, and presentation. Now at least you have 3011 subscribers.

[@realtk6482]

I love and understand english, but as a German I hate it when youtube translates the title of youtube videos so you think its in your language but then its in english. Its not even every video I see, it translates random. So annoying.

[@jrgptr935]

Ja, wär toll, wenn KZbin englische Texte ins Deutsche übersetzen könnte - die meistbenutzte Sprache ist anscheinend die einzige, mit der es nicht zurandekommt (Chinesisch, Tagalog und Bulgarisch gehen ja). Und Englisch ist ausgerechnet die Sprache, die in der Schule zu lernen verboten ist/(war?).

[@CordeliaWagner]

Why bother when you love English???

[@realtk6482]

@@CordeliaWagner bc Im fcked up from yt

[@epender]

I thought the translations are always set by the uploader.

[@MsSaksalainen]

I noticed that it changes depending on which language I set my phone to. I don't know a workaround. Very annoying tho, I agree.

[@MatthiasSchwarzerEnglish]

Thanks for watching! Here's more you might like: ▪ Why the Windows XP meadow no longer exists: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y36QZ4x5fa59qrc ▪ Weird Border: Is this Germany or the Netherlands? kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHK3cpJvdpKZjac ▪ The sad last Days of a German Ghost Town: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYilmHakh9x6p8U

[@HorstMichel-mh7gv]

Weit vorne! Danke dafür.

[@jonass9347]

We made geoguessr to easy is my takeaway.

[@micosstar]

thanks for producing!

[@lagrangewei]

it right for germany to oppose google because those data can be used to train AI. it is foolish to give a company so much power and help them have better control of your country. I wish my country had such foresight, now it is impossible to remove those data on the internet...

[@nnnnnn3647]

Germany and Austria are open-air museums of Europe. Now that the automotive industry is switching to electric, it will mean the end of the dominance of German manufacturers. They will be like Nokia. He can't write software, and he can't understand the new client.

[@jonnymerry]

Great journalism! Well done.

[@lewisinho]

Very well made video Matthias, impressive from a channel of your size. Keep up this high quality and i can see your channel taking off in the near future :)

[@ChikunVA]

As someone who's from within the Ruhrgebiet, I never really noticed that Germany is such a huge gap within the EU. I only realised it last year and ever since asked myself why that was actually the case.

[@derjoghurtmitderecke]

Awesome video, Matthias. Took a while to get used to you speaking english to be honest. 😁 Good job, mate! Also quite an investigative video. Most people know that Google had and has problems with their services here in Germany. Maps had issues aswell if I remember correctly. People were concerned and claimed that it could be used to precisely plan burglaries. Then again often we don't know the exact reason behind all this so it's nice that you shine some light on it. Interesting as always. Dankeschön. 👍🏻

[@CZghost]

Maps could be used to plan burglaries with pretty much any service, the burglars might only need a paper map for them to do this if they have to. That's a possibility that was always there, burglars just mapping out lucrative areas, lurking around and marking tipped houses on the map with a sharpie. Technology only made it easier and more distant, burglar only needs to hop in the Street View to see the houses and plan burglary accordingly to that, and next time the burglar arrives at the spot, they are prepared and ready. But keep in mind that as well as technology made it easier for planning and mapping out the burglary, it also made it significantly more challenging to break in and tresspass. If you see a nice and expensive looking villa, chances are the house is literally filled with technology that actively monitors and protects the grounds. Things like CCTV and ESD (Electronic Security Device) were not really that common in 80's, they were not even used at all in Eastern Europe and Eastern Germany before the fall of socialism. Nowadays, I think that 90% of houses you find in lucrative areas will include at least one type of such protection. So while technology made it possible to plan and map out burglary before physically going there, it also made it much more difficult to overcome the protection of the property.

[@nigratruo]

@@CZghost This is total bullshit and not true: This has NOT been used for burglaries. The fact is that Germans are paranoid (often the old people, which are also in power in the CDU) and make up dangerous and negative things that don't exist. If you plan a burglary, you need actually real time data, you plan a stake out on site, because google maps all around the world is not accurate and not current. You want to see who leaves when and returns when, is there a lot of traffic, etc.

[@istudios225]

LOVE his accent! ❤Don't change, Matthias.👍

[@timknight68]

An actual piece of journalism! Told a story. Gave room for several perspectives. Food for thought without influencing the audience's interpretation. No bias, no slanting, no propaganda. Well done, sir!

[@MrTrevortxeartxe]

Great documentary short. Well constructed; pleasantly executed.

[@AN-nt3uv]

I have been there during elementary school in the 80ies and actually Molfsee is the home of Schleswig-Holstein's open area museum displaying houses and lifestyle from 1600 onwards....so much more important than some internet issues.

[@shagrat47]

I remember, when it leaked to the public, that google not only took photos of the houses, but scanned ALL WiFi networks (SSID) with location etc. So they can pinpoint an SSID on anyone's smartphone to a location... Another city I've heard of that was pretty open to collecting all sorts of data, was Amsterdam (Netherlands) , where Hitlers armies could easily go through the extensive data of a census ("Bevolkingsregister") that listed religion, among other irrelevant data for a census. It took them just a few days to identify everyone with the "wrong" religion marked behind his name. If those people would have objected to the collection of data, that wasn't required for a census, some of those may not have ended up in concentration camps... Makes you think about privacy and data collection on a "need to know" basis. 🤔

[@gianlucabiehl8541]

Google will take the GPS location of your home WiFi as soon as a Android connects to it lol

[@shagrat47]

@@gianlucabiehl8541 only if your GPS is activated... which you should deactivate when not in use. Not only for privacy concerns, but it also adds battery life. 😁

[@gianlucabiehl8541]

@@shagrat47 Because the location is only determined via GPS... Yeaahh... lol. Google also uses other network services to determine the location of devices. Besides, as a WiFi owner, I can't force my guests to turn off their GPS.

[@undeadwerewolves9463]

That is actually really and excellent point…

[@flixilux]

And Not to mention that every time you use any Google service, your IP Address also "gives out" your approximate Location. Correlating this to Nazi Germany is in my eyes incredibly narrow-minded and Shows a Lack of understanding for the technology that you are trying to demonize. (Edit: added the Word "Germany")

[@ConstantineDokolas]

High quality production. Congratulations!

[@mururoa7024]

We don't want our houses to be seen by total strangers on internet! We only want them to be seen by total strangers on the street! 😂😂😂

[@yannicktraub2338]

Thank you for the interesting video! I know that you are mostly correct with the statement, that no new images have been added, but interestingly enough in my home region (south of Stuttgart) it's a bit of a different situation. There, a couple of years ago, the local city councils and municipalities actually hired a private company to do the streetview images for them. If you want, you can check it out. Just look at Reutlingen or Tübingen and some of the immediate surrounding villages and cities.

[@thetaleteller4692]

Even more funny - Apple Maps and its version of "Street View" works perfectly fine in Germany.

[@TheGogeta222]

Realy!? Anzeige ist raus!

[@stefansoder6903]

You clearly didn't watch the whole video...

[@Mark85S]

Very interesting. This video was suggested to me at just the right time as I was on street view just the other day looking around where I used to live in Bremen and I wondered why nothing had been updated since 2007.

[@WaaDoku]

Great documentary and investigation. That's the best kind of investigative journalism.

[@scoobsm6994]

Interesting video. While I use this feature often, especially when trying to go somewhere new. But, I'm also very understanding of privacy concerns, and the wishes of people to try and retain some control of some semblance of privacy in this age of anything, anywhere. So good on you Germany for sticking to your principles! Also, it would be interesting to know in this resistance was higher in the East. Also interesting to hear that google is still capturing the data, but just not publishing it. We need to be wary of tech giants.

[@GabrielKitignaTessouat]

Yeah, since Stasi is the largest intelligence agency to ever exist I wouldn't be surprised.

[@somebod8703]

@@GabrielKitignaTessouat Size is no match for the automated algorithms of the NSA (or similar agencies in China etc.).

[@GeekOfAllness]

The Google data is available now. The bigger issue, that Google fixed in their algorithm years and years ago, was including pictures of people in their back yards and stuff. It seems they quit removing entire people and now just blur faces as you can see here: www.google.com/maps/@54.26522,10.072132,3a,15y,315.91h,87.87t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sr_P1umtbG6Qy4uLBsJXhhQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu Or better, here: www.google.com/maps/@54.2655671,10.0703997,3a,25.7y,232.4h,78.11t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1soe-hDUx8ch-hITjWL-Gkeg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu I do feel like it would be better if they could completely remove the humans. The odds are those guys are pretty easy to recognize based on body shape and clothing choice. Maybe the second guy doesn't want people knowing he smokes, and now it's immortalized for all to see. He's in a public space, so anyone could have seen him walking about, but it's still not hard for Google to write some algorithms to remove him from the image. The first guy is in a private yard. And, while he's clearly visible from the road, he might not want people knowing he visits that particular house. Again, anyone walking by might have seen him, but there's still no particular need for Google to display him.

[@Newlife-ol6pk]

Yes these "tech" are just like rapists .No difference of mentality whatsoever.You say clearly You don't want something and they find ways to do it anyways ,one more time and one more time because It doesnt matter the person said no ,the only thing that matters If what they want..So really they should be in prison and hope people will wake up .. Facebook,google , KZbin..Their place is behind bars for criminal activity.

[@vocassen]

The fact that they were continuing to capture data and not publish it should tell you more about their real goals. They want data, e.g. how you call your wifi network and where it is, so that they know where you are even if your GPS is off for "better user experience" I'm sure

[@HypzEU]

I actually can't believe what I see rn 😂 I acutally live in Molfsee and it was so insane random for me that you visited my town haha

[@CarstenBauer]

Very entertaining video, thank you. I am German born but been in Australia for 40 years, and love visiting and viewing Germany virtually. Hopefully I can see more of Germany soon.

[@szymonbaranowski8184]

the perfect vacations, drinking beer on own hamack in summer and visiting Europe virtually so practical and money saving

[@coover65]

I'm Australian but lived in Germany as a teen back in the late 1970s for a few years. Absolutely love the country and despite regular trips back I still have so much of Germany still to explore. Cheers from Tamborine Queensland.

[@SpeedyK2003]

Good storyline! Was really enjoyable to watch!

[@frtzkng]

This whole situation means that Street View in Germany inadvertendly turned into a time capsule. Some places have seen massive changes since 2008, and on Street View you can see them before all of these changes- e.g. buildings which have since been demolished, ground which wasn't built up yet or roads which had a different setup.

[@Jehty_]

You can do that in every city in every country. Google has the older pictures still available.

[@BUMMY105]

you can easily access previous image captures of any area through the "See More Dates" button at the top-left corner of Street-View on PC. I never explored Google Maps on Android, and I never owned an iPhone since 2014, so I can't really say where it is on smartphone devices.

[@georgeandrews1394]

​@@BUMMY105 Same on Android, just in a different location on the screen. I checked after I read your comment; it was cool seeing the old houses that had been torn down for new developments in my neighbourhood.

[@Rubafix989]

There are a lot of interesting points against private companies collecting data. I think it's fine as long as the data is entirely public, and that the company pays its taxes in the country.

[@alexwyler4570]

That is a different mindset! Maybe Europeans companies obey laws. Otherwise, you should assume the company will do whatever it wants to make money, the people are NOTHING. It is all about the money grab for the company. They will apologize after, throw a penny in the air and keep doing whatever they need to do to make money. I would love to live in a place where companies are ethical and moral and do what is best for the people and the communities.

[@patrickgivens4900]

I could know nothing about you, but you give off a positive vibe. I'm sold. lol

[@CaliHime]

Awesome, very informative video. How do you not have more subscribers!? Keep it up, this is quality content. Alles Liebe aus den Niederlanden!

[@greatgamingchannale8257]

Ratingen is a very rich town close to Düsseldorf essentially functioning as a suburb where a lot of rich people own housing so a lot of people there just don't want Google to photograph their property.

[@tom1stein2]

@MatthiasSchwarzer: The "Panoramafreiheit" (right to take a picture of everything that you can see from a public place) applies only to pictures taken from the hight of your eyes, without any tools. As Google mainly used cameras from a higher viewpoint (about 1 m on top of a car), those photos are partly illegal, depending on what they can see.

[@Ancadriel]

When I saw the video I thought I was from a bigger channel. Keep up with the good work

[@cheeseionyt8660]

I agree with the idea about having warning that a google street view car will be updating their maps in your town with notice to the local council because I know people who don't want to be seen on google maps and be possibly judged for years.

[@akah679]

What a timing! I just randomly opened one of the streets on Google maps I used to live in Hamburg a few days ago and realised it got updated in 2023. Was very curious about it but never searched anything on this topic. And now this video popped up 😄

[@edwardpaulsen1074]

I think I may have a unique perspective on some of this... My Aunt and Uncle lived in Göppingen and took care of me as a wee lad almost sixty years ago... I had the opportunity to serve as a foreign exchange student and a bit later I managed to get stationed fairly close to my Aunt and Uncle when I served in the US Army back in the '80s... I had the opportunity to speak to many of the people that had direct experience with the events in the 1940s... Many of the Germans were very sensitive to those events and there was a VERY strong determination to NEVER allow that kind of thing to happen ever again. They had first hand experience of the horrors as well as the intense distrust that developed because of those actions. I can very easily understand the trepidation and distrust from the older population in regards to a foreign entity essentially invading their privacy to that level. Most people today have little to no connection to what happened and I observed many younger people exhibiting an almost flippant attitude towards it even back then. I still have a certain coin and a copy of a certain book from a certain Austrian Painter that was handed to me when I went back to the US that would have had me arrested by the Polizei if they had known about it. I fairly strongly believe that there was still a fair proportion of the population that still remembered and were holding true to some of the vows they made regarding that time period and the excesses that were put into play. As time has marched on and the direct memories have stopped being passed down, I think that history has become far more diluted. I hold great respect for the Germans who made those choices, and I understand the blurring and lessening of the events for the younger generations. Germany has struggled for its' past and I can agree that the time of healing has arrived. Then again, I also recognize the very real hazards that are making a comeback due to those fading memories. I can only mournfully wonder, why we have failed to learn and maintain the harsh lessons we have so painfully learned from history...

[@laospeedwagon3023]

That was REALLY interesting. I had no idea, thanks for information and entertainment.

[@whyyoulidl]

Thx for the insight and update; I wasn't aware of this.

[@Timo_Scheffler]

As a German with grandparents living in Spain I was always fascinated by the fact that I could see their house on Google street view. I know literally no-one who was against street view apart from those who are always against anything 😅 thanks for the cool video and showing the story from a German perspective.

[@internet_userr]

I know where your grandparents live.... Spain

[@andreaskubler98]

​@@Stevie-Jyou are absolutely right. At the moment Google Streetview shows your house, your life is completely in the hands of Google. You give up every existing rights about your privacy. Go on fighting 🤮

[@nnnnnn3647]

Germany and Austria are open-air museums of Europe. Now that the automotive industry is switching to electric, it will mean the end of the dominance of German manufacturers. They will be like Nokia. He can't write software, and he can't understand the new client.

[@grimreaper3882]

@@andreaskubler98 Unlike any other random person that can make photos of you house because a street is you know, a public place?

[@szymonbaranowski8184]

being against everything is a human right 😂 also you and swedes made Spanish estates unaffordable for locals while they are now replaced by migrants who you also invited to Europe in millions thats very inhumane and immortal

[@j.h.arnold]

If I recall correctly, BILD Zeitung led the charge against Google Street View, as they perceived Google as an information competitor. The house I live in, in Berlin, has 24 apartments. 1 person who lived here for all of 18 months had the house pixelated, against the wishes of every other tenant. Nuts.

[@HauntedXXXPancake]

BILD: "Trampling all over Peoples privacy for money is OUR Business" 🤣

[@frtzkng]

Which is really cynical, as BILD, and their parent company Axel Springer AG, violate privacy laws for individuals on the regular, and very extensively.

[@justasimplecadjockey687]

Very cool. Thank you for educating us. Also, I love the Whonmobil @15:08. I laughed way too hard.

[@d-i-ry]

you're a really good storyteller!

[@atmel9077]

I always use Street View to find streets with low traffic when cycling. I didn't knew it wasn't available in Germany. To me the story seems to be more about politics than about privacy. In the end Google got so annoyed that they just gave up and didn't do anything for 15 years because they feared another debate.

[@frtzkng]

Well Street View in Germany is about as patchy as adequate cycling infrastructure is

[@tanszism]

@@frtzkng come up to niedersachsen, its really good here

[@GreenCinco12Official]

They still drove around and recorded just didn't used the pictures for streetview. It's not like we don't have google maps and real time traffic ^^

[@user-xh3nm8oe2l]

I'm all for privacy, but everything that can be seen with Street View can be seen by any stranger from the street, so what's the point of prohibiting it?

[@hiltonchapman4844]

@@user-xh3nm8oe2l Ah, yes! So you've read that poem about an Arab, his tent at night, and his camel. That's the lesson for us in today's hyperconnected world! HC-JAIPUR (23/07/2023) .

[@jakobfromthefence]

As an expat living in Germany I can attest that this is a very, very German story. 😂❤

[@johnwest7993]

Interesting investigative journalism. Well done.

[@larry4111]

Excellent report! I travel a lot and depend on Street View. Last August I went to Germany for the first time. I was so frustrated that I wasn't finding what I needed - for example, I booked a tour but wanted to see exactly what the meeting point looked like and I wasn't able to do it. I wanted to compare hotels and look at the surrounding buildings and streets, and visually walk through how to get there from the nearest bus or train stop. Not having up to date images actually affected my plans. I realize I'm one person but I'd think Germany would benefit from tourists being able to more succinctly plan their visits. I routinely visit places (or avoid them) because of the images I see on Street View.

[@anna-5104]

The good thing is though that I could virtually stroll around my old neighbourhood in Berlin from my childhood. It's so nostalgic, since a lot has changed since then. I'm kinda thankful it wasn't updated haha xD

[@jessali_]

You can always access old Street View images when you click "see more dates" in the upper left corner when you're in Street View.

[@lakewoodvevo]

fantastic music selection my ears love it

[@fritzmiller9792]

Great presentation, very interesting. 👍

[@aresee8208]

I like Street View for what is, essentially, remote tourism. I can visit places I've always wanted to see but will never get to. (Plus, it's helpful for finding places you do want to go to.)

[@hjs6102]

Manchmal wird eine laute Minderheit als Mehrheit wahrgenommen, weil die Mehrheit einfach schweigt... Sometimes a loud minority is perceived as a majority, because the majority is simply silent...

[@user-xh4ht2wb1r]

wie wahr

[@ulie1960]

This is correct, but it is also correct that no one can knew how each and everyone in this silent majority would decide if they have to answer. So the minority could be a majority in the end, we just don't know. The only thing one can say is that if you don't answer or don't vote, you might not complain about the result in either way.

[@kris856]

Thanks for this video. It only shows how sometimes a single person can impact the whole world... or country

[@linusfotograf]

Never heard of Look Around before. How smooth the scrolling is!

[@PatrickBijvoet]

Funny, my street in the Netherlands is difficult to reach for cars that do not belong there. (Non-residents or couriers or visiters etc). So, inspired by your video, I took a look. And what I tought, nor Google, Nor Apple documented my street. There are only satelitephoto's from above. Very interesting and nice video Matthias!

[@CordeliaWagner]

It's Google. I don't think Streetview is more important than privacy. People used to find Locations without Streetview. I don't want my privacy tradet to a company like Google to make other people's lifes just a little more convenient.

[@christianbarnay2499]

Do you file against all people passing by who keep their eyes open when they see your home? As long as Google blurs all faces, nameplates and car number plates and the Google car stays on public roads your privacy is protected because it's impossible to link the exterior view of a random building or house to your identity.

[@PeroSero]

Super Interessent! Obwohl ich Freund des digitalen Fortschritts bin, finde ich gut, daß der Internet-Riese gestoppt wurde. Toller und interessanter Kanal👍

[@reargiro5102]

Ich finde das soo sympathisch! Danke für eine weiter tolle Geschichte!

[@anthonyross-702]

During the video, when you had the German text, I had flashbacks to when I tried to learn German as a child. Since I'm syllabically impared, I failed miserably. Great video, thank you.

[@thegreatgabe7229]

Nobody is talking about this, this smaller channel is making a high quality video that a big KZbinr would make. Nice Job!

[@the_slurp_kinghansen5936]

wow this is amazing!! the editing IS PERFECT

[@jayerjavec]

Now I know. Thanks for sharing this interesting history. Just applied and pixelated my house.

[@friddevonfrankenstein]

Idiot.

[@jsalsman]

Meanwhile in California, Google Maps history data is a common law enforcement subpoena request for all kinds of crime investigations.

[@foreignparticle1320]

I never knew about this. It has made my day.

[@therrealsteeevo]

I once heard that the media coverage and bad publicity for Google was also related to the negotiations about the "Leistungsschutzrecht" in the same period. The publishers were able to demonstrate their power to Google.

[@Quasihamster]

I remember the city of Cologne providing forms to its citizens in which they could request for their homes to be pixelated. They just needed to fill in the street adress, prove to the city they actually live there, and the city would then forward all those forms to Google. The result was, many of the more wealthy neigbourhoods sent in so many pixelation requests that StreetView abandoned them altogether. Also, one single tenant is enough to get the whole building pixeled, meaning many of the biggest and best known apartment buildings were also blurred. UniCenter, AXA-Haus, what we all have here.

[@szymonbaranowski8184]

great way to locate properties worth robbing

[@telocho]

What if the requester moves out, did they in Cologne also come up with a process to un-pixellate if the next person has no objection? And then again when the one after that has objection again? From my point of view, the city does not have a say on pixellating anyway, the facade of my house is in public domain so no-one, including me, can have it pixellated.

[@Quasihamster]

My guess it, it stayed this way. There were some pixelated houses on Google, that in reality, have been demolished in the meantime. @@telocho

[@Peleski]

I guess times have changed, but I myself was surprised at my Czech cousins' concern about past places, and events that may have happened, when discussing ancestry locations, like houses in villages that appear now on Streetview

[@szymonbaranowski8184]

every country interest would be to create own street view focusing on tourist locations to promote worldwide while letting other places alone best in cooperation with other countries to promote jointly between each other on a free noncommercial platform pro bono and not selling data to foreign evil and not charitable corporations

[@maxfi878]

What's a funny coincidence is that the city Ratingen mentioned in this video is where popular youtuber and streamer Rainbolt was captured on Street View.

[@klaus.rudat.1969]

Endlich mal ein Englisch was selbst ich verstehe. Ohne Möchtegern-ami-slang, ohne Genuschel, ohne Kaugummi-kau-aussprache. 😉

[@IssaNissaWob]

Hämmbörg

[@RolandMorgenroth]

Streetview is a big problem in Germany. But nobody minds highres 3D "satellite" pictures that are taken from airplanes in google maps. Here everyone can see private things like a swimming pool in your backyard.

[@AndroidNation]

Street View is only a problem with Google though. If you look on apple maps, most of the german homes have been photographed by Apple.

[@JustFluffyQuiltingYarnCrafts]

Thanks for the info. Never heard of this issue.

[@tftf60]

Gut recherchiert und aufbereitet. 👍

[@carlos-ju7ce]

Thanks for the information. I've been trying to plan my itinerary for a road trip into the EU for next month and couldn't understand why I couldn't see anything in Germany. I use Streetview in my job too...saves me sometimes having to drive hundreds of miles to look at the exterior and accessibilty to some of our branches

[@MikeHarrison3266]

Can any individual visit Molfsee and walk about with a camera taking videos or stills? If they can what is the difference? They can publish their collection online.

[@cf-xf6ku]

nice story and funny 🙂 great job

[@duard8652]

Super, thanks for the heads-up. Requested on Google and Apple maps. Last thing I need is online photos of my residence.

[@HerraTulitikku]

I was one of the person who let the house in which I lived pixelated. My reason is different, I wanted to make the house unattractive for tourists, because many apartment owners turned their apartements in commercial air bnbs, because they could make more profit with tourists as with tenants.

[@elzabethtatcher9570]

A valid concern, I must say.

[@Herfinnur]

I moved to Germany in 2008, and having to constantly travel I was almost grief-stricken when street view disappeared from one place after the other. But I came to appreciate how Germany is virtually the only "thing" keeping the American data succubi in check

[@daniellewilson8527]

I have never heard Google and other tech companies described as data succubi before, very interesting term

[@mikatu]

The street view was never there to start with!

[@frtzkng]

Not really, as when those companies aren't allowed to collect your data directly, they'll do so in secret. Those companies have lawyers whose job it is tho find every possible legal loophole. As the absolute majority of this data is collected and used for advertising purposes, your best line of defence is an ad blocker.

[@cyan_oxy6734]

​@@frtzkngI think in this area the EU commission is actually doing good work and the punishment is fairly sensible (I think up to 10% of yearly revenue or something) and since there's basically no data companies in the EU they have no issue dishing out those punishments.

[@nnnnnn3647]

Germany and Austria are open-air museums of Europe. Now that the automotive industry is switching to electric, it will mean the end of the dominance of German manufacturers. They will be like Nokia. He can't write software, and he can't understand the new client.

[@pilkjaer]

Tyvm for this video! I didn't even know that removing my house from the street view was even possible. Now request was sent. I have nothing to hide but at the same time, it's none of anyone's business what car I drive, was I at home at that time and what color of curtains i have in my kitchen.

[@tvflight7858]

Geoguessr community often calls Germany Blurmany, I guess that's about to change

[@HepCatJack]

I remember that back in the mid-1990's in the former East Germany when driving and if you missed an exit, sometimes you would drive for a long time before you would encounter another exit to go back the way you came. I would struggle with paper road maps, and although people were kind and tried to be helpful the language barrier made it difficult to understand the directions as I spoke neither German nor Russian. I am also not sure that today the young generation would even know how to use a paper map. I tried to drive to a dance in Frankfurt from the Plauen / Hoest region but I drove a total of 8 hours, got lost multiple times and ended up near Nürenburg. One difference from what I was used to was one would drive towards the next city on the way to the destination whereas I was used to driving according to cardinal points South, East, West. If you don't memorize the order of the cities on your way it's more difficult. Eventually, I wrote down the name of the cities on a piece of paper before leaving. Some GPS existed back then but they were voice only and I only saw one in a Taxi, it was the first one I ever saw and though something like that would be very useful for me. I kept looking for poles with street signs by habit not yet used to the fact that they were on the side of buildings. Einbahnstraße and Umleitung seemed to be very popular street names. :-) Arriving in Germany having flown from overseas, not having slept made it difficult to both find the city I was supposed to go to and once there to find my hotel in the city. Then there was the struggle of being new to driving a manual car instead of an automatic in a city with lots of big hills with people honking behind me when the car would stall. Having street view is very useful to get an idea of what the place I'm going looks like beforehand so that I don't get as lost anymore. I understand the privacy issues, but it makes life easier for visitors.

[@Moochie007]

I live in Australia but was born in Germany and was disappointed when I found out that I wasn't able to see where I was born (or any other place I wanted to see). The objections people have had towards this feature don't make much sense. After all, there's nothing to stop any would-be burglar from jumping in their car and cruising to any street they might want to see. It's much more sensible to install a decent security system with lots of cameras, particularly hidden cameras, and advertise the fact in your front window - such systems aren't all that expensive and will serve as a good deterrent to anyone who values their freedom. Our system caught someone in our house - the police were notified, and the culprit was caught a few streets away attempting a similar stunt at another property. The few items he'd stolen from us were eventually returned, pretty much in the same condition as when they had been taken. I hope Germany has a change of heart about Street View, so old expatriates like me can replenish some memories before they vanish completely from my mind.

[@coover65]

I was born here in Australia but lived in Germany for a few years back in the late 1970s. Was disappointed in not being able to see my old house in street view. A visit back a few years ago revealed that not much had changed in the town.

[@PandaAduma]

Great video! Thanks!

[@colinstu]

May wanna switch to center weighted metering instead of spot metering (I'm assuming). Exposure going crazy up and down as I'm assuming it's recognizing the brightness between your skin and facial hair with a central point within the frame. Also good vid!

[@Jimages_uk]

I love the idea of street view where I live. I can look back at my garden growing over a number of years, see all my previous cars, and even check when the roads have been repaired, a font of helpful data. Having said all that, I am not happy with Google in general, they are the most prolific data mining company in the world, having said that, Facebook, and KZbin are probable not so innocent either.

[@tobbcittobbcit8899]

Facebook belongs to META which should tell you enough

[@suncat530]

youtube belongs to alphabet, aka google

[@red.aries1444]

It's wrong that there is no additional Street View available in Germany since 2008! It's right, that there is no official material, which has been made directly by the company, but several volunteers have uploaded their selfmade material to Google. If the quality is good enough and after blurring the faces, Google made this content available. You only need the right equipment to film your enviroment. If Google accept your material your chosen name is mentioned.

[@sirjackify]

also Apple has Street View for basically all of Germany since at least a year

[@meep.472]

​@@JaneSmith-nothingnesswho asked

[@B__C__]

@@meep.472 I did in the alternate timeline parallel-universe known as America. I've had my home blurred out for all time on Apple, Google and the other Google: Bing, because privacy should be a thing, though I'm not going to go so far as Jane and yell at all the 'whippersnappers'--I still am one after all. 😉

[@HelmetmanTheSwede]

@@JaneSmith-nothingnesswell it’s a useful tool for places where you can’t really see how to walk or when visiting a place you’re not familiar with

[@Dunno1999]

​@@JaneSmith-nothingnessok Jane Smith, then try to destroys Google HQ with help of German army because how they extracts many privacy data all over world!

[@lix1135]

Very well made video.

[@louiseogden1296]

Last scene: Dude, you managed it. Well done. (I know he's no longer with us, but there's a really nice feeling after a small victory. Mine after my ankle injury were being able to take my moonboot off at night and then a month or so later being able to sit cross legged.

[@tobyk.4911]

So the question is now probably, after you have informed the city of Ratingen about the photographing of their streets and buildings by Apple: Is Ratingen now sending Apple a bill of fees for the authorized use of their streets?

[@TheMsLourdes]

I'm american and I totally get it vis-a-vis germany being privacy conscious. It is a cool service, but it can be turned on people so easily and I can quite get behind the thought that, google can make maps, but maybe street views is a step too far.

[@thedude5295]

You were doing so well too, Germany. I didn't know there was going to be a bad ending. Sad.

[@Cendoria]

didn't know that I cared to know any of this, now I do. cheers for that

[@m.willner]

My english is not the yellow from the egg, but I like your channel and so I leave a like there.

[@a4yster]

>>english is not the yellow of the egg 🤔🤔🤔

[@m.willner]

@@a4yster Is a German proverb and means "my English is not so good".

[@a4yster]

@@m.willner When I've read this - I really felt like I heard these word before. Googled up and yes! Liam Carpenter had that on his channel.

[@acaya]

When I moved to Germany I had to use Maps and Street View all the time and immediately wondered why the pictures were so damn old, and why there were so few with Streets View. I just thought Germany was very slow and old fashioned with some things, like the way they hate using a credit card😂 Apparently there is a reason! Very interesting video

[@GuyHeadbanger]

Credit card... We hate them. Most Germans hate being indebted to someone. And when there is no more cash, how do you pay for a present for your wife, when you would like it to be a secret, how much you payd? Without cash, how can you pay for a gift for your wife without her knowing how much it cost? Or how to pay a street h**ker? Or for illegal substances, if you are into this? But most important: As there is no such thing like banking secrecy any longer in Germany, how could you prevent the government in snooping into you lifestyle? Oh, you bought the third bottle of booze this month, maybe you better not drive any longer! A package of cigarettes a day? Well, time to raise the charge for health insurance to you! You order books about things, the government does not like? You are probably a public enemy and should be carefully looked after by the Verfassungsschutz... (the Verfassungsschutz is a domestic intelligence agency, working directly on orders of the Minister of the Interior, so basically the government spies on the opposition.) For citizens of countries that never experienced totalitarianism or hyperinflation this may sound delusional and stupid, but knowing, that Germans refer to the government as "father state" may help to understand us.

[@flitsertheo]

Don't tell me they associate credit cards with the coupons for buying a new Volkswagen Beetle in Nazi times.

[@hzunasdfgbciw]

Early credit cards had severe security issues. Well, they didn't have any security at all. So most Germans preferred to use EC cards, which already had a PIN and could be given out of hand. And EC transactions are free of cost.

[@Ashorisk]

credit cards also means that a middleman is doin something in a transaction that works totally fine without him (and no, that service is not for free).

[@sagichdirdochnicht4653]

Come to think of it, I should have used Google Street View, when I was on vaccations. Could have helped a lot. But the Idea just never came to me, because the Service basically doesn't exist here and you kinda forget, it is a thing elsewhere.

[@marinadela1361]

Pixelating a house somehow attracts a lot more attention to it, so I get it.