Do no do this, it will require more info to Google and make your house stick out like a sore thumb.
this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2026
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Privacy
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So now they know where you live....
😅. Okay, story time:
When StreetView was introduced this dominated public debate in Germany for weeks. It was all the rage, "how dare they to photograph everything?"
One official even suggested "it's awesome, police can now patrol the streets from an office chair", because that is how much of a backwater country Germany is digitally.
Anyway, people saw immediately all the crime which all the criminal criminals would do with this tool (which tells you something about the state of mind of the "righteous folks"). Anyway, half the country was blurred, because everybody knew about it. And it is the reason, why StreetView is so patchy in Germany (or at least was for the longest time, didn't check much in recent years) compared to the neighbouring states, 'cause Google pretty much said "Fuck these fucking Germans with their fucking shit".
Apple came around some years later with their version, nobody cared anymore 😅
Feeding Google more data is always a good idea...
Bigfoot uses this
Why would I do this? It’s just a door with a number on it.
Yea. I don't really care either. I don't see the point in making the effort. Unless I am missing something.
All it seems like is an easy way for google to link your address to the rest of your data.
Damn, they'll have to go all the way to zillow if they wanna case your place, huh?
Anyone going to try this with the Whitehouse?
The house we moved to last year had been blurred by the previous owners. It's permanent, so we don't get a choice about it.
Tbh this is the only house I've ever looked up that was blurred.
I get why, but it's also inconvenient. So many of us (in my area, anyway) look up the house on Streetview when going to an unfamiliar address, to help orient ourselves.
It's not something I lose sleep over. But given the option, in a neighbourhood with no other blurred houses, in a low-crime, lost surveillance area, I don't think I would have chosen to blur the house.
Google maps has a picture of my house from about 10 years before i moved in and it looks exactly like all the other houses around me...
...but i should give google personal information and utility bills to get it taken down?
Nah.
Right?
how hard would it be to just do this automatically for every address? to bring down the street view machine for good?
I'm not suggesting anyone do this, I am just curious how it would work or how it would play out.
The two counter arguments to this are:
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You are giving more personal data to google to prove you live at that address.
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A blurred house on street view makes you stand out and can make burglars think you are some rich guy with valuable stuff in their house.
I read somewhere once that some houses are blurred after grisly murders occur there, among other heinous crimes like arson and rapes. That's what I usually think of wwhen I see a blurred house. I can't say I've ever seen a mansion blurred either.
Yeah this is exactly like the DNR (Do Not Track Request) built into browsers. It was off by default. Turning it on was only done by privacy focused individuals. But it made you significantly more trackable because almost nobody turns it on, your browser becomes a lot more unique.
Thankfully browsers stopped supporting it. But this is the same thing. Very few people will use it, so that it'll make you stand out instead of helping you.
Yeah, I was about to say, I'm not falling for this "privacy" service lol. Nice try, Google.
don't tell google where you live
If you use Maps, they already know.
Probably if you have a smartphone they know.
Your DMV license is researchable so ?
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Lol as i am going to send google extra information to get a bit more privacy back. Thata stupid
This does nothing but make your house more obvious. It's better to blend in than to stick out.
It makes it harder to case the house though. If the street view shows a low overhang, with a easy way up to a second story window, or maybe a tree, A/C heat pump, all sorts of things, then I could see an argument for wanting that blurred.
"Google says the document is deleted after 60 days."
Lol. They absolutely keep all of the data.
"Just give us your name, address, and more, and we'll stop violating your privacy (on the surface). Training AI? Well, obviously. Selling to data brokers? I mean, why wouldn't we? We'll delete the document after we've stored all the details in our database, of course."
Yeah, doesn't say anything about copies being destroyed.
Now that I think about it, is that a threat? Is google going to come to my house and set all my documents on fire in 60 days?
Tbh the outside of my home is publicly viewable anyway. I can't think of why I'd care much.
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This should be opt-in, not opt out. IDGAF if it is public information that is perfectly viewable from the street, it shouldn't be on the internet without my consent. There are plenty of perfectly good reasons to blur your house aside from the worry of petty thieves. One, your privacy should be treated with respect. Streisand Effect doesn't really apply here because no one gives a shit if your house is blurred. No one cares as streetview passers by. Talk to your neighbors and then the whole street is blurred like my old street.
This does not obviate the need for action at the legislative level. Google has used the streetview cars to collect plates and radio signals including WiFi information, who knows what else. They have so many databases of information on each of us to sell to adverts and to give freely to police.
This opt out is a positive, likely carved out by litigation, in a very very negative space for privacy rights.
This opt out is a positive, likely carved out by litigation, in a very very negative space for privacy rights.
It's not, it's less than Google used to do for these requests. In 2009, I requested my house be taken off streetview. They removed it by skipping mine and a few houses on each side.
Then they went down my back lane, so everyone got a good look at my back yard anyway.
Privacy today is a never ending battle, but Google started this nonsense a long time ago.
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Everyone does know that the front of your house is visible from the street, right?
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