The Grauniad’s Michael Cross on the ruling by the Information Commissioner’s Office that Street View does not contravene the Data Protection Act (see previous entry):

The ICO’s statement says there is no law against taking pictures of people in the street as long as the photographer is not harassing people. Too right — despite the efforts of celebrities, police officers and over-zealous officialdom to curtail this right. It’s a right that’s important to press freedom as well as the general principle of allowing citizens to do what they like in a public place so long as it harms nobody else. …

And the liberty to walk in a public space without revealing our name or profession is the same liberty that allows Google to photograph it and paste the results up on our web.

Via Ed Parsons.