Individual Receives Thousand-Dollar Compensation for Unwanted Google Street View Exposure of Private Area
Argentine Court Awards Officer $12,500 Over Google Street View Nude Image
An Argentine court has ruled in favour of a police officer who sought compensation after his naked image was captured by a Google Street View camera and published on Google Maps. The man, whose privacy was violated and dignity was damaged, was awarded approximately $12,500 in damages by the court.
The incident occurred in 2017 when the man, who was a police officer in Argentina, was photographed naked in his backyard behind a nearly 2-meter (about 6.5 feet) wall. The image, which included his house number and street name, was shared on Argentine TV and social media, exposing him to ridicule at work and in his neighbourhood.
Initially, a lower court dismissed the man's claim, blaming him for being outside in an inappropriate condition. However, an appeals court overturned this ruling, finding a "blatant" invasion of privacy within his private home domain and a flagrant violation of his dignity. The court cited that Google has policies to blur faces and license plates to prevent harm, but the full-body naked image should have been similarly blurred or prevented from publication.
The telecom and news companies that helped spread the image were absolved of liability; all responsibility was placed on Google. The man's second attempt to get compensation was successful, with the court ruling in his favour.
Google typically blurs faces on camera, but the man's bare backside was not censored. The man claimed he was humiliated by the situation, subjected to ridicule from coworkers and neighbours. The judges wrote, "No one wants to appear exposed to the world as the day they were born."
The amount awarded was not specified in the news article. Google paid a $13 million settlement in a class-action case for collecting personal information as part of its Street View project. It also paid a Pittsburgh-area couple $1 in damages for taking photos of their private road. However, it seems unusual that Google did not blur the man's fully naked image.
The court described the invasion of privacy as "blatant" and the situation as an "arbitrary intrusion into another's life." The ruling underscores the principle that images captured within a private space behind a sufficiently high fence, especially nude images, warrant strong privacy protections. Publishing such images without consent violates personal dignity.
- The incident involving the Argentine officer and Google Street View highlights the importance of technology companies implementing stringent privacy measures, especially in the realm of home-and-garden technology, to protect individuals' dignity and personal information.
- In light of the recent ruling against Google, Gizmodo suggests that tech companies should consider expanding their tech policies to blur or censor full-body naked images, in addition to faces and license plates, to avoid potential invasions of privacy and preservation of personal lifestyle.
- The future of technology needs to prioritize privacy concerns and respect individuals' fundamental rights, as demonstrated in the Argentine court case, where technology was used to violate an officer's privacy, leading to damages and a call for increased accountability in the tech industry.
