Google, UBS, and Swiss on trial

Google’s effort to map and photograph the world is getting some resistance. Switzerland 's federal data protection commissioner says he is taking the search engine company to court to force changes to its “Street View application, because persons’ faces and vehicle number plates are often clearly recognizable, in violation of Swiss privacy laws.

The Swiss government says Google has declined to comply with earlier requests to make changes to the system.  Citing concerns that Google’s cameras are intrusive and literally focusing on people’s backyards, the commissioner filed affidavits this week with the federal administrative court.

Switzerland isn’t alone. Germany , Greece , Japan and the U.K. have all made their concerns clear – in some cases, requiring changes to the different views before “Street View could be seen in their respective countries.

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Today the Swiss government released criteria it will use ïn determining whether to help U.S. tax authorities track down U.S. residents suspected of committing tax fraud. This stems of course from recent case involving UBS bank.

The Swiss Federal Tax Administration set up a task force to evaluate client files from UBS and determine the criteria for assisting governments in the future.  It said the criteria include cases where there is a reasonable suspicion of "tax fraud or the like," and in this case covers "American clients of UBS, who directly held undisclosed accounts in excess of 1 million Swiss francs at any time between 2001 and 2008."  It also covers U.S. citizens with offshore company accounts between 2001 and 2008," when there is a reasonable suspicion of "tax-fraud."

The Swiss actions are being closely watched by other countries like Australia and the UK that have recently requested tax information about their citizens living in Switzerland .

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And finally, in a follow up to a story we told you about last week, two Swiss businessmen held in Libya for more than a year will be put on trial.

Last week the two men — identified as Max Goeldi and Rachid Hamdani — were handed over to the Swiss embassy in Tripoli , leading to expectations they would be released and allowed to return home.  However, in a turn of events, a Swiss Ministry official says Libya now says the men will stand trial tax evasion and violating residency laws.

There’s no more word about what comes next for the two, who were originally detained in July 2008 for alleged visa violations as a spat erupted between Switzerland and Libya , involving leader Moammar Gadhafi's son.