South Korean police investigators raided Google's Seoul offices on Tuesday on suspicion the Internet search company was illegally gathering personal information for its street mapping service.

Police official Ahn Chang-soo says a cybercrime unit is investigating Google Korea for possibly violating South Korean communications and privacy laws with Street View, a map service that includes photographs of streets taken by Google cameras.

Ahn said police confiscated computers and hard drives for analysis and that company officials will soon be summoned.

The service has been controversial in Germany and other countries because of concerns the recording invades personal privacy.

Source: The Associated Press