Sign In
By signing in or creating an account, you agree with Associated Broadcasting Company's Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
By signing in or creating an account, you agree with Associated Broadcasting Company's Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
A man in Argentina has won a legal battle against Google after Street View cameras accidentally captured him naked in his backyard. The image, showing the man’s bare behind, went viral and caused embarrassment at work and in his neighbourhood.
The incident took place in 2017 in a small Argentine town. The man, a police officer, said he was behind a 6.5-foot wall in the privacy of his own home when the photo was taken. Despite this, the Google Street View image showed him unclothed from behind.
To make matters worse, his house number and street name were visible. The image was later broadcast on national television and widely shared on social media. He claimed this exposure led to ridicule at work and among his neighbours, damaging his dignity.
In an earlier ruling, a court rejected the man's case, stating he was responsible for walking around “in inappropriate conditions” in his own garden.
Google argued the wall wasn’t high enough to block the camera’s view. But an appeals court disagreed. Judges found the tech giant guilty of a serious privacy breach and ordered it to pay the man the equivalent of $12,500 (in Argentine pesos).
“This involves an image of a person that was not captured in a public space but within the confines of their home, behind a fence taller than the average-sized person. The invasion of privacy ... is blatant,” the judges noted.
They also ruled that Google had no valid excuse for the error, which exposed a private moment to the world. “No one wants to appear exposed to the world as the day they were born,” they added.
The court acknowledged that Google normally blurs faces and licence plates in Street View, proving the company was aware of its responsibility to protect privacy. “In this case, it was not the face, but the entire naked body — and that should have been protected too.”
Telecom provider Cablevision SA and local news site El Censor, who had been co-accused of spreading the image, were cleared of wrongdoing. The court said they had only helped highlight Google’s mistake.
Google’s Street View policy states that it uses advanced technology to blur faces and license plates. Users can also request Google to blur their homes, vehicles or bodies via the “Report a problem” tool.
