It's a general principle, not a specific one.

So Google is taking a principled stand against states which pass laws designed to protect the privacy of their citizens?

No, the principle is that you can have overreaching privacy protections or convenient geolocation features, but not both.

(That said, a3_nm's post indicates that this case had more to do with Google's collection of private data over WiFi than the photographs themselves. It's hypocritical for governments in the age of Snowden to criticize a private company for doing that, but at least it's understandable.)