Protect your privacy: How to blur your house on Google Maps
If you’re an avid Google Maps user, you probably rely on Street View, a first-person perspective tool that uses recent photos of streets, buildings, and homes to help you get more information about where you’re going. These images are captured by Google’s ubiquitous cameras.
There are also many practical uses for Street View: you can check out the outside of a restaurant or bar before you visit, or identify a unit in a building you’ve never been to. If you’re driving to an unfamiliar house, you can use Street View to make sure you’ve found the right place when you arrive.
But for all the good it does, Street View can also be used as a tool for stalkers and criminals. It gives anyone a free pass to investigate parts of your home without actually being there in person.
Sure, someone could just walk or drive by your house and see where you live, but with Google Maps, they can do it easily — from the comfort of their couch. Anyone with a phone or computer can do it.
Luckily, there’s an easy way to blur your home on Google Maps and prevent others from seeing too much detail about where you live. Here’s how to do it.
For more information, check out Google Maps’ essential travel tips.
Check this out: How to Blur Your House or an Object in Google Maps
How to Blur Your House on Google Maps
You’ll need to do this on your computer — the blurring feature isn’t available in the Google Maps app on iOS or Android. It’s accessible via the web browser on your mobile device, but it’s a bit tricky to use, so your best bet is a trusty web browser on your Mac or PC.
Bee maps.google.comEnter your home address in the search bar at the top right, press Enter, and then click on the photo of your home that appears.
Click on the photo of your house, directly above your address, at the top left of the page.
Then you will see the Street View of your location. Click Report a problem bottom right. The text is super small, but it’s there.
This is the Street View of your location.
Now it’s up to you to choose what you want Google to blur. Use your mouse to adjust the view of the image so that your house and everything you want to blur are all within the red and black boxes. Use your cursor to move around and the plus and minus buttons to zoom in and out respectively.
If you want to blur more than what is in the black/red box, use the + button to zoom in.
Once you’re done adjusting the image, choose what you want to blur underneath:
- A face
- Your house
- Your car/license plate
- Another object
You will be asked to provide a little more detail about what exactly you want to blur, for example in case the image is filled with different cars, people and other objects.
Also, be absolutely sure that what you select is exactly what you want to blur. Google warns that when you blur something on Street View, it is permanently blurred.
Finally, enter your email address (this is required), verify the captcha (if necessary) and click Submit.
You will be asked to provide additional information about what you want to blur, so be thorough.
You should then receive an email from Google stating that they will review your report and contact you once the request has been denied or approved. You may receive further emails from Google asking for more information about your request. Google does not provide information on how long it takes to process your request, so keep an eye out for further emails.
To learn more, take a look at how Google developed Immersive View for Maps.
