How to Blur Your Home in Google Maps Street View
Of course, anyone can just drive past your house to see what it looks like – all the tin foil in the world won’t protect you from this “privacy breach”, although a fence can help – you can make it harder for people to see your home on Google Maps …
The solution involves blurring your entire house, and while this is a surefire way to make your home the ugliest address on your virtual block, you can still do it. If you don’t like the image captured by Google with one of the many Street View vehicles, or you want to prevent random people on the Internet from passing by passing cars, there is an option.
There is also one big caveat if you use it. If you choose to blur your address, you cannot blur it . Full stop. I’m not sure if Google even makes exceptions if you are the new owner of a home that was previously blurry; You can try, but if I were you, I wouldn’t hold my breath. I also believe that this request persists even if or when Google makes new images in the street view of your area. It’s such a big deal, and yes, it’s a really shitty “prank” to put on someone else. Do not do this.
I realize I’m using a slightly playful tone when describing this technique, but as Mashable reports, there are many legitimate reasons why you might want to blur your living space:
“… maybe you’re worried about an online stalker , maybe you don’t want outsiders looking out your windows, or maybe you value privacy as such and just don’t think Google should have indexed and digitized photos of your house are available for everyone to see. “
To get started with digital blur, open Google Maps on your computer and enter your home address. Either click on his image in the upper left corner of Google Maps to bring up Street View, or click on the little man in the lower right corner and drag the body onto the street.
When you look at the picture of your house, find the tiny Report a Problem link in the bottom right corner:
Click on it and you will be taken to a screen that allows you to fine-tune the appearance of the image you want to communicate: for example, make sure the targeting box covers your entire home. From there, select what you want Google to blur (“My Home”), enter your email address and submit the form:
Google may contact you for more information, but it should also provide you with an updated status of your request. I guess this process shouldn’t take long – I didn’t do it myself so as not to annoy the homeowner – so you should have a fuzzy home soon.