Google Accuses Innocent Father As Criminal For Taking Naked Toddler's Pics For Medical Consultation

An anxious parent accidentally got caught in Google's algorithmic web after sharing pictures of his toddler's genitalia for doctor consultation.

This incident led to a nearly 10-month-long police probe of child sexual assault.

The father in California, who went by the name of Mark, is still battling to regain access to more than ten years' worth of his digital life, which includes emails, contacts, and even the Google Fi phone plan. The Independent added that Mark's account was disabled after more than ten years.

According to a New York Times article, Mark's account was detected for "harmful content" that was "a serious violation of Google's policies and might be illegal" and disabled in February 2021.

It all began when the 40-year-old San Francisco stay-at-home parent realized that his toddler's big penis was hurting him.

To document the abnormalities and seek medical attention, the father took pictures of the genitalia.

After Mark's son became unwell, an online consultation was planned because in-person sessions became increasingly difficult due to the escalating pandemic.

The nurse requested the boy's parents to upload pictures to Google's cloud and email them in advance to the doctor.

The medical incident was swiftly resolved. However, Mark faced a bigger problem when he learned that his Google account had been suspended due to "harmful content" a few days later.

After the photographs were reported by the artificial intelligence algorithms, a human content censor for Google would have reviewed them to ensure they complied with the federal definition of child sexual abuse material.

He instantly contacted Google.

But by then, the San Francisco Police Department started their investigation. Mark had already lost access to his emails, contacts, papers, and phone contract.

The police cleared Mark many months later, Peta Pixel wrote. He was informed that investigators had obtained all of his cloud-based images and videos, along with his location history, chats, and internet searches.

After reviewing Mark's personal information, the police concluded that no crime had been committed.

However, Mark could not regain access to his Google account. According to legal scholar Kate Klocick, the parents almost lost the custody of the child.