Argentinian Court Orders Google to Pay Rs 10 Lakh Over Street View Privacy Breach

Argentina, 28th July 2025: In a significant ruling over digital privacy, an Argentinian appellate court has ordered Google to pay ₹10 lakh (approx. USD 12,500) in compensation to a police officer whose naked image was unintentionally captured by a Street View camera while he was within the confines of his private backyard.

The incident occurred in 2017, in a small Argentinian town, where the officer was briefly undressed inside his walled residential property. Despite being surrounded by a 2-meter-high (approx. 6.6 feet) fence, the camera captured the scene from the street. The resulting image, which showed his unclothed back and included identifiable details like the house number and street name, was later broadcast on national TV and spread widely on social media.

Claiming emotional distress, loss of dignity, and a violation of personal privacy, the officer pursued legal action, alleging the exposure had damaged his reputation both professionally and within the community.

Initially, a lower court dismissed the case, siding with Google’s argument that the wall’s height was inadequate to ensure privacy and that the officer should have exercised more caution when unclothed outdoors, even in his own backyard.

However, an appeals court overturned the decision, stating the image clearly originated from a private space and that the existence of a boundary wall indicated a reasonable expectation of privacy.

In a strongly worded judgment, the court noted that Google’s failure to detect and censor the explicit content constituted a serious lapse. While Google typically uses algorithms to blur faces and license plates, the court stressed that these protections should have extended to instances of full nudity, especially when captured from private property.

“This was not just a technical oversight,” the judges stated. “It was a serious breach of privacy and human dignity. Google had a duty to implement safeguards against such violations.”

The court ruled that only Google would be liable, absolving Cablevision SA and news outlet El Censor, which had published the image later. The judges clarified that these entities merely reported the incident and did not directly contribute to the officer’s exposure.

Legal analysts believe this judgment could have broader implications, potentially setting a precedent for digital privacy protections and increasing the accountability of tech companies when public image-capture technologies cross into private domains.