Google Street View cleared by ICO

Google's Street View has been given full approval by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

The ICO made a statement in response to a complaint from Privacy International that the service was causing "embarrassment and damage" and should be switched off while Street View was properly investigated.

The ICO had already given Google Street View its backing when the service launched in the UK in March 2009, before Privacy International asked it to open an investigation into the tool.

David Evans, senior data protection practice manager at the ICO said: "As a regulator we take a pragmatic and common sense approach. Any images of people's faces or number plates should be blurred.

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"We emphasised the importance of blurring these images to protect people’s privacy and limit privacy intrusion. Google must respond quickly to deletion requests and complaints as it is doing at the moment. We will be watching closely to make sure this continues to be achieved in practice," he continued.

Evans also said that Street View did not conflict with the Data Protection Act of 1997.

"Google Street View does not contravene the Data Protection Act and, in any case, it is not in the public interest to turn the digital clock back. It is important to take a common sense approach towards Street View and the relatively limited privacy intrusion it may cause," Evans said.

Google was pleased by the ICO's ruling.

"We are pleased with the ICO's statement. We took care to build privacy considerations into Street View from the outset and have engaged with the ICO throughout the development process," a Google spokeswoman said.

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"We recognise that a small minority of people may not wish their house to be included in the service, which is why we have created easy-to-use removal tools," she continued.

Privacy International (PI) told Web User that the ICO's statement was a "mystery" - not because of the legal judgement, but because the ICO said PI had asked for the service to be switched off permanently.

"We never asked them to take the system down other than for the period of the investigation," PI director Simon Davies said.

"We’ve spent much of the past month correcting the false impression being put about by media that we had sought the permanent removal of Street View images. Now the cycle begins all over again," he continued.

A poll currently running on the Web User site suggests that more than a third of respondents think Street View is an invasion of privacy.

Do you think Google Street View is invasive? Have your say in the Web User forums.