A man in Taiwan who used a robot vacuum cleaner to uncover his wife’s alleged affair won a civil lawsuit against her and the other man but was later sentenced to prison for secretly recording private footage. He and his wife mainly used their holiday home during vacations. The man married in 2021 and lived with his parents, according to a recently released court ruling reported by local media. His suspicions about his wife reportedly grew in September 2023 after he found a used toothbrush at the property.
He later reviewed surveillance footage from a parking garage and noticed an unfamiliar man who had previously driven his wife home.
The court rejected that defence, ruling that marital obligations do not override an individual’s right to privacy. It also found that the recording was intentional. Any lights or voice notifications produced by the robot vacuum were not enough to establish that the woman knew she was being recorded or had consented to it.
He first sought NT$2 million (around Rs 60 lakh) in damages, South China Morning Post reported. The civil court concluded that the relationship had gone beyond ordinary friendship and ordered the wife and the other man to pay him NT$500,000 (around Rs 15 lakh) in compensation. Under Taiwanese law, secretly recording or disclosing another person’s private activities or intimate information without authorisation can carry a prison sentence of up to three years and a fine of up to NT$300,000 (Rs 9 lakh).
