Argentinian Policeman Awarded $12,500 After Google Street View Captures Naked Image

An Argentine police officer who was photographed naked in his yard by a Google Street View camera in 2017 has been awarded approximately $12,500 in compensation by an appeals court. The image, captured from behind a two-meter-high wall in his private garden, showed his naked body along with his house number and street name, which were widely shared on social media and Argentine TV, leading to ridicule at work and in his community. While a previous court dismissed his claim, blaming him for being in inappropriate conditions, the appeals court ruled the invasion of privacy was blatant and an arbitrary intrusion into the man's private life. The judges emphasized that Google violated the man's dignity by failing to prevent the exposure of his entire naked body, despite policies to blur faces and license plates in Street View images. The court found no justification for Google to evade responsibility for this serious error, underscoring the protection of personal privacy within one's home. Two media outlets that distributed the photo were acquitted, as their actions highlighted Google's misconduct.