A German court has told Google it cannot keep showing people’s homes from above without their permission. The Frankfurt Regional Court ruled on Tuesday that the aerial and satellite views on Google Earth and Google Maps break Germany’s strict privacy laws. It went further, and called the practice “spying”.

A man in Frankfurt brought the case. German courts and media have withheld his name under the country’s privacy rules, as Deutsche Welle reported. He had already forced Google Street View and Apple Look Around to blur photographs of his family’s home. This time he went after the overhead imagery.

The court agreed with him. It said nobody should have to accept Google publishing aerial images of their property worldwide without consent, at least where those areas sit hidden from public view.

“The plaintiff’s personal space extends across the whole of the home’s parcel. The only data to be gleaned here are personal, giving clues to private lifestyle, such as the size and design of the property.…