“Google had been watching me” says arsonist

Given the state of privacy online, you probably couldn’t be blamed for thinking you were being spied on all the time, especially by giant information-sucking companies like Facebook and Google.

However one man took his frustration to a whole new level after setting fire to a Google street view car, claiming he was upset that “Google had been watching him”.

Raul Diaz, 30, has been previously linked to a series of attacks on the Internets biggest search engine, including another arson attack which saw a Molotov cocktail lobbed at a Street View car that failed to catch fire, as well as gunshots being fired at a Google building. During those attacks, reports claim that Diaz’s car – or at least one matching its description – was spotted on CCTV.

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Upon Diaz’s arrest, a makeshift pipe bomb and guns were found in his car, police say.

According to the court affidavit, Diaz said “Diaz told officers that his motivation behind the attacks was that he felt Google was watching him and that made him upset. Diaz said that he kept journals of the times that he felt Google had been watching him”.

Companies like Google do collect lots of information about us, but it is important not to let our frustrations boil over. Large companies have privacy policies that detail exactly what they do and don’t do, and we suggest reading them carefully if you’re concerned.