Man Wins $12,500 After Google Street View Camera Photographs Him Naked
A man who was photographed naked in his yard by a Google Street View camera has been awarded $12,500 in compensation after a court ruled the images invaded his privacy.
The Argentine police officer was photographed in 2017 while walking nude in his yard in the town of Bragado, west of Buenos Aires, when a Google Street View car was taking pictures of the area.
According to a report by CBS News, he argued that Google harmed his dignity by publishing the photos online. He says that he was behind a six-and-a-half-foot wall in his yard when the camera captured him.
The photos showed his house number and street name and the images remained online for some time before they were removed. They were also shown on Argentine TV and widely shared on social media, which he claimed caused embarrassment at work and in his neighborhood.
The court awarded him more than $12,500 after finding that Google violated his privacy. Google argued during the trial that the perimeter wall was not tall enough to block the view.
‘The Invasion of Privacy is Blatant’
Last year, another court rejected the police officer’s claim for damages, saying he was responsible for “walking around in inappropriate conditions in the garden of his home.” But according to CBS News, an appeals court disagreed, saying his dignity was “flagrantly violated.”
“This involves an image of a person not captured in a public space but within the confines of their home, behind a fence taller than the average person. The invasion of privacy… is blatant,” the judges write.
They added that there was “no justification for Google to evade responsibility for this serious error that involved an intrusion into the plaintiff’s house, undermining his dignity.”
The judges also noted Google’s policy of blurring faces and license plates on Street View as proof that it has a duty to protect people’s privacy.
In this case, the judges noted that “it was not his face that was visible but his entire naked body, an image that should also have been prevented.”
The court reportedly cleared telecom company Cablevision SA and news site El Censor of responsibility for the photo being shared, stating that their reporting “helped highlight the error committed by Google.”
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
