Photo unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]
Photo unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]

A Taiwanese man who used a robot vacuum to gather evidence of his wife's affair and won a civil lawsuit has himself been sentenced to prison on privacy violation charges.

According to the South China Morning Post on Thursday (local time), the man, identified only as A, began suspecting his wife of infidelity after finding an unfamiliar toothbrush at a vacation home he visited only during holidays.

He reviewed parking lot security footage and found recordings of an unidentified man escorting his wife home.

Three months later, A attempted to remotely operate the robot vacuum through a mobile app, intending to use its built-in voice function to communicate with his wife.

The camera captured his wife in an intimate encounter with another man, and A recorded the footage as evidence.

He then filed a lawsuit seeking 2 million New Taiwan dollars ($63,000) in damages from his wife and her alleged lover.

The court ordered the wife to pay A 500,000 New Taiwan dollars ($15,000) in compensation.

The matter did not end there. The wife filed a countersuit accusing A of secretly filming her, and A was ultimately convicted of illegal filming and sentenced to five months in prison and a fine of 150,000 New Taiwan dollars ($4,600).


choigo@heraldcorp.com