Google fined $2,250 for exposing Canadian woman’s cleavage on Street View

Unless you’re new to the internet, you’ve probably heard of some of the crazy stories surrounding photos and images on Google’s Street View services. Everything from crime scenes to urban legends have allegedly been captured on the service, if you know where to look.

This situation is more than just an internet rumor, though. A woman in Canada filed legal claims against Google for capturing a shot of her leaning forward on her porch and exposing her cleavage, showing her off to anybody that bothered to look up her address on Street View. Apparently whoever is in charge of blurring out things like license plates and addresses didn’t think this was worth censoring. 

After the claims were filed, Google essentially just blurred out the entire residence. Technically, that works, but it’s a pretty sloppy solution. Google refused to pay out any money to the woman, however, arguing that she was in a public place when the photo was taken. Unfortunately for Google, the Canadian courts didn’t fully agree with that defense and ordered the company to pay out $2,250 to the woman, plus interest and court fees. She originally wanted $45,000 for emotional damages, so Google lucked out there.

The moral of the story? If you see a Google Street View car, make sure you’re dressed well enough that you won’t mind strangers on the internet looking at it.

source: Gigaom

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