Google Loses Privacy Lawsuit After Street View Cameras Photograph A Nude Cop
Google is on the hook for a $12,500 payout that it now owes a police officer in Argentina after its Street View cameras snapped a photo of him in the nude. This wasn't a matter of Google being an intentional peeping Tom, but a situation of bad timing by its Street View car drive-by, which happened to catch the officer completely naked in his backyard, despite being hidden behind a 6.5-foot wall.
It's an interesting case on a number of levels, one of which is that a court initially dismissed his lawsuit for an incident that occurred back in 2017 (it's not clear if it happened before or after Google's Street View cameras got a high-definition makeover and other upgrades). According to CBS News, a court last year ruled that was his own fault for "walking around in inappropriate conditions in the garden of his home." In other words, if he didn't want to be caught on camera without any clothes on, she should have put some clothes on.
Sounds simple enough, except he was in his backyard behind a wall that, in most conditions, would be high enough to block him from view. However, we live in an age where cameras are practically everywhere, from smartphones to high-flying drones, and on top of cars like the ones Google Maps uses for is Street View snapshots.
Unsatisfied with the dismissal, the officer filed an appeal and ended up winning an amount in Argentine pesos that works out to around $12,500 in U.S. currency. It's not much and certainly a soft slap on the wrist for Google, which raked in over $350 billion in revenue last year. But at least he got something.
On appeal, judges ruled that this was an "invasion of privacy," and a "blatant" one at that.
"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 judges wrote in their ruling.
They went on to call the incident "an arbitrary intrusion into another's life...No one wants to appear exposed to the world as the day they were born."
I'd be curious to know if the same verdict would have been reached in the United States, had this happened stateside. I'll admit to occasionally watching first amendment audit videos (look it up, if you don't mind tumbling down a rabbit hole). What these auditors often state is that so long as they are on a public space, they can photograph and video whatever their eyes can see.
I don't profess to be an attorney, but this case is a bit murkier because of the 6.5-foot wall. What's also interesting is that the judges found Google to be aware of its obligation to prevent privacy infractions, due to its policy of blurring faces and license plates that it photographs.
What are your thoughts on this privacy lawsuit and outcome? Let us know in the comments section!
Top Image Source: Sancho McCann via Flickr (CC by 2.0)
