When Google Maps led to a family discord

Google Maps might bring a smile on the faces of millions of people as it guides them to navigate unknown routes without much difficulty, but not certainly for R Chandrashekar.

The owner of a fancy store in Mayiladuthurai in Nagapattinam district has filed a complaint with police seeking action against the technology giant for “causing trouble” in his family life.

The 49-year-old man’s grievance is that his wife had been tracking his movement using Google Maps, which “falsely shows” that he had visited certain locations where he had never been. Google Maps, according to Chandrashekar, is giving him “sleepless nights” as his wife believes the mobile application than anyone else.

Armed with a two-page complaint, the man went to the Mayiladuthurai police station and submitted the letter to Inspector of Police K Singaravelu, who told DH on Friday that he has asked both the husband and wife to come for counselling.

“We have not registered an FIR. I have asked the couple to come to the police station for counselling. We hope that counselling will solve the issue,” an amused Singaravelu said. In his complaint, Chandrasekhar claimed his wife had been picking up fights regularly over his visiting certain places for the past few months.

“Google Maps has been causing a lot of problems in my marriage. My wife keeps checking the timeline on the app installed on my phone every day after I come from the fancy store. Google Maps falsely shows the locations where I had never been. When I explain this, my wife does not believe it. She does not believe me the way she does Google,” Chandrashekar told DH.

The last straw was on May 20 when the wife countered Chandrashekar with the Google Maps app that showed that he has visited a locality in Mayiladuthurai town which he did not. “The location is three km away from my fancy store and I never went there. But since Google said so, my wife blindly believed it. Unable to bear the sufferings, I filed a police complaint,” Chandrashekar said.

In the complaint, the man also alleged that his wife has not stopped believing Google Maps despite being advised by friends and family members to “trust me.” “Google is causing me troubles and is a hindrance to my family life,” Chandrashekar said in his complaint, seeking compensation from the technology giant for “my sufferings.”