A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Pennsylvania family against Google after the company took and posted images of the outside of their house in its Maps service.
The lawsuit, filed in April 2008, drew attention because it sought to challenge Google’s right to take street-level photos for its Maps‘ Street View feature.
On Tuesday, Judge Amy Reynolds Hay from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, granted Google’s request for dismissing the lawsuit because “the plaintiffs have failed to state a claim under any count.”
Aaron and Christine Boring sought compensatory and punitive damages as they alleged, among other things, that Google had invaded their privacy, acted negligently, was unjustly enriched, and trespassed upon their Pittsburgh property, which includes a private road leading to their house.
The Borings also requested that the images in question be removed from the Maps service, and Google complied. In its ruling, Judge Reynolds Hay also declined the Borings’ request for a permanent injunction preventing Google from showing their property’s photos in Maps. “The Plaintiffs have failed to plead—much less set out facts supporting—a plausible claim of entitlement to injunctive relief,” the judge wrote.
The Street View images are taken from Google cars equipped with cameras. The photos offer a 360-degree street-level view of some roads and are meant to complement the other Maps views, like satellite, terrain and standard graphics.
Neither Google nor the plaintiffs’ attorney immediately respond to requests for comment.