Advertisement

Google sued over underwear image on Street View

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Google is facing a lawsuit from a woman in Japan who claims she found a photo of her underwear hanging on a clothesline in images from the Internet giant’s Street View mapping service.

The woman said she looked up her address in the spring and found the photo of her home and garments, according to the Telegraph newspaper.

Advertisement

She’s asking for about $7,000, saying the image caused her to fear that she could become the target of a sex crime, according to the publication. She added that her obsessive-compulsive disorder was made worse by the discovery, and that she subsequently lost her job and moved to a different residence.

Google has removed the image.

This is not the first privacy complaint Google Street View has faced. The company has acknowledged that its Street View sweeps have intercepted data from unsecured wireless networks -- sometimes entire e-mails and passwords. It has also faced backlash from Germans concerned about Google intruding on their privacy.

RELATED:

FTC halts investigation of Google’s Street View

Privacy concerns overshadow Google Buzz launch

-- Tiffany Hsu

Advertisement