We will all agree that certain companies store records with everything we are doing on the Internet (and in life) is not very pleasant, but sometimes it can be very useful. As has now been shown with the history of Google Maps, which has saved a user from paying a hefty fine.
Specifically, we are talking about a driver who has been able to demonstrate, thanks to his location history on Google, that he had not actually parked where he had been told he had parked. A place that brought him an interesting fine that has now been withdrawn. As we can see, not everything was going to be bad. Sometimes the sun comes out.
Google Maps vs Premier Park Ltd: 1-0. End of the meeting.
This story of happiness and saving an interesting fine stars Jamie Chalmers, a 21-year-old British boy who received a fine of 100 pounds (about 119 euros) for having parked his car in a parking lot for three hours. Alerted to possible error, Chalmers checked his location history on Google Maps. to verify that, indeed, it was not in the place where they said it was.
The firm Premier Park Ltd, in charge of managing several parking areas in England, was the one that proceeded to issue the fine against Chalmers’ vehicle. However, Jamie proceeded to hand over his Google location history and showed that (at least his mobile) had not been in the place that was claimed. After review, Premier Park Ltd. proceeded to withdraw the £100 penalty against Chalmers.
“I was shocked when I got the ticket. I thought, ‘I haven’t parked anywhere for three hours.’ The picture they sent me showed me driving back onto the main road… Another picture showed me yielding at a junction. They said I stayed more than three hours in the car park. This was not true: I did not use the car park. I had only been in the drive-thru. I used my Google location history to respond to the accusation. It shows what times and places you have been and how long you’ve been driving. I appealed, showed them the proof and they had no choice but to withdraw it.”
It is not alien to us that there is some other loophole in this whole case, because the vehicle could have been perfectly parked there, Chalmers having left the mobile at his home. Or it may be the case that a person other than his usual driver was driving it. However, Premier Park Ltd. gave up and withdrew the fine, as the user managed to prove that he had not been in the aforementioned car park.
