How to blur your home on Google Street View (and why you should)
mashable.com
A little privacy goes a long way.
  • Meldrik@lemmy.wtfEnglish
    65·
    16 days ago

    Wouldn’t it be funny if everyone did that, making Street View completely useless lol

    • Hubi@feddit.orgEnglish
      70·
      16 days ago

      Google Street View wasn’t updated for 15 years in Germany because of that. There was a huge drama when it was first announced and people were scared it would be used by criminals to scout buildings, leading to everyone blurring their houses. It got so bad that Google basically just gave up.

      I remember looking up an address in 2020, only to find out that the house didn’t even exist yet on the capture from 2008 lol.

      • AndyMFK@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        18·
        15 days ago

        In the geoguessr community, Germany is commonly referred to as “Blurmany” because so many buildings are blurred

  • Chozo@fedia.io
    49·
    16 days ago

    Food delivery scammers will often do this and blur out their whole street. That way, when they report to their Uber Eats that they never got their order, the support team can’t compare the driver’s delivery photo to anything and will usually refund the meal because of it.

  • Billiam@lemmy.worldEnglish
    29·
    16 days ago

    Nick Fuentes did this last year when he assaulted a woman who knocked on his door.

    Of course, it’s not hard to figure out what building is in-between numbers 1824 and 1828…

  • trolololol@lemmy.worldEnglish
    25·
    16 days ago

    Does Google require proof you live there and give that info to the cookie monster that powers its profits??

    Am I too paranoid at this point?

    • MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      6·
      15 days ago

      Exactly. Everyone in Scotland knows what town former prime minister Gordon Brown lives in. Thanks to Google Maps, we know the exact address. It’s the only blurred-out house.

  • iamanurd@midwest.socialEnglish
    16·
    16 days ago

    Remember, you still live in the location, so you can always step outside to see your home if you need a reminder of its appearance

    Lol

    • TheTechnician27@lemmy.worldEnglish
      17·
      16 days ago

      It’s also just dumb that imagery taken from a street isn’t doing anything privacy-invading or illegal yet they still feel the need to coddle paranoid NIMBYs. Street View can sometimes be useful for OSM, since you might’ve been there but forgotten to document something, are too far away, etc. Street View as a concept works to the public’s benefit, although Google owning it and it being proprietary isn’t good. I can see this removal feature being a good thing by probably one out of every thousand times it’s actually used, namely in the case that you have some kind of stalker (even then, though, satellite view 99% of the time would give you a concerning amount of info compared to Street View).

      • GrumpyDuckling@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        5·
        16 days ago

        A scammer will use an image of your house for a rental ad. They will have a locksmith change the locks and rent the house out to an unsuspecting family. Then you have to evict them to get your house back.

      • lemmyingly@lemm.eeEnglish
        2·
        15 days ago

        Let’s not forget anyone can fly light weight quadcopters and planes with cameras on them within the boundaries of private property. Most aviation authorities around the world are in control of air space, and that air space in most countries starts a micron above the ground. And therefore it’s perfectly legal for anyone to fly something within the boundaries of your property. Now you could get into trouble for being a peeping Tom, aggravation, etc depending on the circumstance. But nothing can be done if someone was to do a quick fly over.

        In my opinion blurring out street view only protects you against the ‘script kiddies’ of the stalking/spying world.

        One thing about blurring in street view. Once it’s done, it cannot be undone. So I’d have consideration for others before going ahead with making a request.