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.''

Blurring the images of people, it is said, would satisfy some privacy advocates, who say it would still allow Street View's objective of allowing people to familiarise themselves with the look and feel of a location prior to travelling there.

The UK watchdog wanted the common sense of people to prevail and said, ''However, it is important to highlight that putting images of people on Google Street View is very unlikely to formally breach the Data Protection Act. Watch the TV news any day this week and you will see people walking past reporters in the street. Some football fans' faces will be captured on match of the day and local news programmes this weekend – without their consent, but perfectly legally.''

''In the same way there is no law against anyone taking pictures of people in the street as long as the person using the camera is not harassing people. 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. In a world where many people tweet, facebook and blog it is important to take a common sense approach towards Street View and the relatively limited privacy intrusion it may cause,'' it added.

The ICO said that it had received 74 complaints about Street View but would keep the operation of Street View under review as Google plans to expand its service from 25 cities to nearly all of the UK.

Street View had debuted in the US in 2007 and has since spread to 100 cities in nine countries including France, Italy, Spain, Australia and Japan.

Street View has sparked concern elsewhere as well. In the US, Google removed images of shelters for battered women. In the Netherlands, concerns have been raised about the safety of anyone trying to photograph Amsterdam's notorious Red Light district. So far, Google's images stop just outside the district. In Italy, consumer groups have raised a variety of concerns and asked Google to put visual and sound warnings on the cars that take its Street View picture.