Google ordered to pay Argentine pictured naked in his yard

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AFP) — An Argentine captured naked in his yard by a Google Street View camera has been awarded compensation by a court after his bare behind was splashed over the internet for all to see.

The policeman had sought payment from the internet giant for harm to his dignity, arguing he was behind a two-meter (6.6-foot) wall when a Google camera captured him in the buff, from behind, in small-town Argentina in 2017.

His house number and street name were also laid bare, broadcast on Argentine TV covering the story, and shared widely on social media.

The man claimed the invasion exposed him to ridicule at work and among his neighbors.

Another court last year dismissed the man’s claim for damages, ruling he only had himself to blame for “walking around in inappropriate conditions in the garden of his home.”

Google, for its part, claimed the perimeter wall was not high enough.

Appeals judges, however, concluded the man’s dignity had been flagrantly violated, and awarded him an amount in Argentine pesos equivalent to about $12,500, payable by Google.

“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 invasion of privacy... is blatant,” they wrote.

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

And they found there was “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.”