Google's 'Street View' cleared by UK privacy watchdog

23 April 2009

Search giant Google's 'Street View' was cleared by the UK Information Commissioner's office after it received complaints that the service should be shut down for being intrusive.

Google's efforts to put the whole world on a map through its Street View had run into problems after its launch it in Britain last month as people complained that it breached and invaded their privacy.

It also triggered fears that burglars or terrorists could conduct research on their targets before striking.

After its launch in the UK, the Google service exposed many people accidentally when online users found a man walking out of a sex shop and another being sick outside a pub.

One woman is reported to have filed for divorce after Google's Street View showed her husband's car parked outside another woman's house.

Residents of Broughton village in southern England opposed the company's vehicle taking photographs of their homes to incorporate in Google Street View. (See: British villagers stop vehicle taking photographs for Google Street View)

Google's vehicles cruise city streets capturing 360-degree panoramic images of homes and businesses, However, the captured images reflected the reality of everyday life, showing people going through their daily routine, including things they would not want viewed by others and Google had undertaken not to reveal peoples faces and car numbers by blurring them in ''almost all cases.''