The Information Commissioner’s Office has ruled it would be “disproportionate” to outlaw Google’s Street View 360-degree map service because of the small risks it poses to people’s privacy. In a statement released Thursday, responding to a complaint from Privacy International, the ICO says Street View “is very unlikely to formally breach the Data Protection Act”. The ICO does however insist that Google (NSDQ: GOOG) blurs people’s faces and car number plates and says it will be checking that it responds to request to delete images quickly.

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Privacy International’s director Simon Davies said Street View had caused distress and embarrassment and was a clear breach of the DPA. But in response the ICO’s senior data protection manager David Evans writes: “Watch the TV news any day this week and you will see people walking past reporters in the street… without their consent, but perfectly legally.” He continues: “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.”