Google Maps Street View blurs some locations permanently, Engadget reports

Google can mask locations by blurring them on Street View in response to requests from government entities, digital privacy campaigners and its own customers, Engadget reported. The locations that tend to be blurred include military and highly secure government sites; the homes of high-net-worth individuals, celebrities and VIPs; and properties belonging to privacy advocates. Some blurs are applied in error, such as a mistaken address.

In some countries, including the Netherlands and Germany, people have a legal right to ask that their home be blurred on these services, which is why many properties there have been treated that way, according to the report.

Street View provides detailed information about a location that can reveal property layout, value and security protection, Engadget reported. Police, criminals, open-source investigators and journalists may use Street View in their work. Blurring that data reduces a person's digital footprint and may offer protection.

Google's Street View service already blurs faces and license plates by default using automated tools. If those tools fail to redact something, users can request removal of those items, and the same process can be used to ask for a home to be blurred.

To make a request, a user opens Google Maps and drags the pegman to the location, finds the property in Street View, and clicks or taps the three-dot menu in the top-left corner or the Report a problem text in the bottom right of the window. The user then adjusts the view to focus on the home, face or object, chooses what to blur, supplies an email address for verification and completes a reCAPTCHA. Google may also ask for proof of tenancy or ownership of the property.

Google does not offer a way to undo the blurring of a location once it is applied, Engadget reported. The measure is permanent. That means blurring a property may strengthen security, but it also prevents neighbors from exploring the entire street in Street View and prevents potential future buyers and owners from seeing the building. Engadget also cited a counterintuitive argument that burglars studying an area for targets may see a blurred property as attractive because the blur suggests something or someone valuable is inside.

Blurring a property on Google Maps Street View does not blur that location on other mapping services, according to the report. To blur a property on Apple Maps, users should write to MapsImageCollection@apple.com with their name, address and request details. Other mapping services, including Baidu Maps, Mapillary and Karta View, may offer street-level imaging in some regions and may enable blurring of specific locations on request. Microsoft removed its Streetside imagery from Bing Maps as part of its transition to Azure Maps.