Argentine Policeman Awarded $12,500 After Google Street View Captures Him Naked in Yard
In a landmark privacy case in Argentina, a police officer has been awarded approximately $12,500 in damages after a Google Street View vehicle captured an image of him naked in his own yard. The photo, taken in 2017, showed the officer standing nude behind a 6.5-foot-high wall on his private property. Despite the wall’s height, the camera mounted on top of the Google Street View car managed to photograph the man’s bare backside clearly.
The incident occurred in a small Argentine town, and the image was subsequently uploaded to Google Maps, where it was publicly accessible. Disturbingly, the photo included identifiable details such as the officer’s house number and street name, making it easy to link the image to him personally. Argentine media outlets then broadcast the photo on national television, and it was widely shared and ridiculed on social media platforms, causing significant embarrassment and distress for the officer involved.
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The officer, whose identity remains confidential, pursued legal action against Google, claiming that the incident deeply violated his personal privacy and dignity. He sought compensation for the emotional and reputational damage he suffered as a result of the public exposure.
Initially, a lower court dismissed the case in 2023, but this decision was overturned by a panel of appeals judges. The appellate court ruled that the publication of the image alongside identifiable location information amounted to a serious breach of privacy and that the officer’s dignity had been flagrantly violated. The court ordered Google to pay damages equivalent to about $12,500 Argentine pesos.
This ruling has ignited a broader conversation in Argentina regarding the balance between technological innovation and individual privacy rights. It raises critical questions about the responsibilities of tech companies like Google in safeguarding personal privacy, even in spaces that might be considered semi-public or visible to automated camera systems. Legal experts believe this decision could set an important precedent for future cases involving inadvertent exposure through digital mapping technologies and highlight the need for stricter privacy protections in an increasingly connected world.
Google has not yet issued a public response to the court’s ruling. Meanwhile, privacy advocates and legal professionals continue to debate the implications of this case for the future of digital surveillance and personal data protection in Argentina and beyond.
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