All clear for Google Street View

Google's Street View technology carries a small risk of privacy invasion but should not be stopped, the UK's Information Commissioner has ruled.The technology, which adds photos of locations to maps, sparked complaints it breaches the Data Protection Act.A spokesman for the privacy watchdog said removing the entire service would be "disproportionate to the relatively small risk of privacy detriment".One village in the UK prevented Google from taking photos of the streets.Residents of Broughton, near Milton Keynes, blocked the driver of a Google Street View car, which captures the photos, when it tried to enter the village.Police were called after residents staged the protest, accusing Google of invading their privacy and "facilitating crime".The villagers said the car was intrusive and that residents should have been consulted.Google has always said its service observed UK law and that photos were only taken from public areas. The technology was first launched, amidst some complaints, in the US in May 2007.Privacy International had complained to the Information Commissioner along with 74 others, requesting the service be suspended, because some individual's faces were identifiable on Street View.