Apparently it’s really easy to get your home blurred out on Google Maps Street View if you don’t like the idea of people looking at where you live. In fact, you can also let Google know you want other things, such as your face, car, license plate, or other objects, blurred if the company’s Street View cars captured them, and up them up for the world to see.
These cars are driving around all the time, picking up all kinds of imagery from all over the world. As a result, they pick up a whole lot of imagery of people and private properties. Sometimes Google itself probably didn’t want the imagery on its service. Even more often, people who wish to remain private find Google is showcasing their homes.
If you’re one of these people who finds Google’s photography to be an invasion of privacy, you can opt out of Street View simply by reporting an image and telling Google why you want it blurred.
Earlier this year, Bloomberg Business reported on the process. You just find the image you want blurred, click to report a problem, and drag to move a rectangle over the area of concern, and fill out a form.
Here’s where you click to report the problem:
Then you’ll get a form that looks like this:
According to Bloomberg, once you get something removed, it’s permanent.
Speaking of Street View, Google announced last week that it has added imagery for the world’s oldest island.
Images via Google Street View
