Woman sues Google for showing her underwear

An unnamed woman in Fukuoka, Japan has sued Google for publicly posting a photo of her underwear on Google's Street View map service.

Google photographers captured the exterior of the woman's home when she had her underwear drying on a clothesline.

According to the report in Japanese newspaper the Mainchi Shimbun , the twenty-something was afflicted with obsessive compulsive disorder before Google's alleged public shaming. Yet, the uneasiness worsened exponentially after she found out that her undergarments could be seen by any who looked online.

The Telegraph reported that the woman told a district court, "I was overwhelmed with anxiety that I might be the target of a sex crime. It caused me to lose my job and I had to change my residence."

Her lawsuit alleges that she began feeling that she was secretly being photographed throughout the day, and the results of her obsessiveness with the issue was enough to cause her to be fired.

The image was removed by Google as soon as the lawsuit was filed in court. Google is still looking into the facts of the case to determine how the company should proceed.

Cases such as these are not uncommon with Google. In 2008, Google was sued by Aaron and Christine Boring for posting pictures of their swimming pool on Street View.

According to The Register , the couple felt their privacy was violated by Google and the company immediately removed the photos upon request.

Yet, in an ironic twist, the Borings' subsequent lawsuit caused copies of the photo to be shared throughout the internet. Earlier this month, after two court decisions and an appeal, the Borings and Google settled the issue with Google paying out a settlement of $1, according to AOL's En Gadget Website for trespassing on the Borings' land.

Meanwhile, the unnamed Japanese woman's suit, which was filed in October, went before a judge last week for its first hearing. Digital Spy reported that she is asking for more than what the Borings received: 600,000 yen, or just over $7,000.

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