Google Pays ₱730K After Man Caught Naked on Street View

In a case that’s both bizarre and eye-opening (literally), a man was awarded nearly ₱730,000 (about $12,500) in damages after being accidentally captured naked by a Google Street View camera while walking in his own backyard.

The man, a police officer in Argentina, was just minding his business, in the nude, in what he believed was the privacy of his home back in 2017. But Google’s ever-roaming camera cars happened to pass by and caught a full view of his bare behind. 

The man sued Google, saying the incident damaged his dignity and subjected him to ridicule at work and in his neighborhood. He insisted he was inside a walled property, protected by a 6.5-foot barrier.

The court highlighted that Google has long been aware of the need to protect people’s privacy, citing the company’s practice of blurring faces and license plates on Street View. But in this case, it wasn’t a face, it was a completely exposed body, which the court said should have also been blurred or never captured at all.

“There is no doubt that there was an unjustified intrusion into another person’s life,” the judges wrote. “No one wants to appear to the world as they did the day they were born.”

Google has previously faced privacy issues with Street View. Back in 2019, it settled a $13 million case over the unauthorized collection of people’s private data through the same service.

And while Google says anyone can request to blur their face, car, house—or even body, through their “Report a problem” tool, it seems this man didn’t even get the chance before he became an unintended landmark.

Is this even possible in the Philippines?

Technically, yes. Google Street View has mapped large parts of Metro Manila, major cities like Cebu and Davao, and even remote towns. While Google uses software to blur faces and license plates, it’s still possible for a person to be accidentally captured in a compromising situation, especially in areas where homes have low fences or open front yards, a common sight in many Filipino communities.

And unlike in colder countries where people rarely hang out half-naked outside, Filipinos love open-air living. We dry clothes in the driveway, drink beer by the gutter, and yes, sometimes walk around in boxers or duster just to hang clothes, receive orders from riders or water the plants. 

If it happened to someone here, would the same kind of justice apply?

What if it ended up on KMJS? What if your neighbor saw it? Would you laugh? Cry? Sue? Or repost it with a filter and your GCash QR code?

Our fences are low and rumors are high, so yes, this could happen to you.

Team Blur or Team GCash?