Google ordered to pay up after capturing naked man in his backyard

Google has been ordered to pay up in the case of a naked man who had been memorialized by their Street View camera.

While it’s not out of the ordinary for people to prank a Google Street View vehicle with some silly antics, what happens when the global camera captures something private? That was the question one man in Argentina was forced to ask when the car captured an image of him naked in his own backyard, which was published online for an unknown length of time before being removed. Despite being behind a wall that was over 6 feet tall, the man’s nudity was captured alongside his house number and street name, leading to him suing Google Argentina in 2019.

The case was originally dismissed by a lower court, which said the man’s “inappropriate condition” was his own fault. An appeals court, however, faulted Google for publishing the image of a man in the privacy of his own property.

“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-sized person,” wrote the court. “The invasion of privacy … is blatant.”

“There is no doubt that in this case there was an arbitrary intrusion into another’s life.”

The man was awarded a sum equivalent to $12,500 USD by the judges, who said there is “no justification for (Google) to evade responsibility for this serious error that involved an intrusion into the plaintiff’s house, within his private domain, undermining his dignity.”

“No one wants to appear exposed to the world as the day they were born.”

It’s unclear whether photos of the man had been taken down by Google in reaction to the lawsuit, or prior to its filing.

Google has introduced privacy-saving measures into its Street View technology for those concerned about appearing on the Internet without their permission.

“We have developed cutting-edge face and license plate blurring technology that is designed to blur identifiable faces and license plates within Google-contributed imagery in Street View,” the company boasts.

“If you would like us to blur your entire house, car, or body, submit a request using the ‘Report a problem’ tool,” the statement continues, allowing people to completely erase their personal presence from the map.

According to CBS News, the company has paid out the nose in the past for collecting the private information of Americans.

“In 2019, Google reportedly agreed to pay a $13 million settlement over the company’s collection of people’s private information through its Street View project,” the outlet reported. “In 2010, Google acknowledged that it trespassed when it took a photo of a Pittsburgh-area house for its Street View service, but only paid $1 in damages to a couple who sued.”