# Anyone here blurring their house on Google Maps? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 6, 2015, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805 "2015-11-06T14:32:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805/1 "2015-11-06T14:32:36Z")
While checking out a friends new house on Google maps, I noticed a giant blurred thing right down the street. Google maps won’t give me a valid, stable link, but search for “674 Longwood Dr NW, Atlanta, Georgia” and go to street view. To be clear, this is not my friends house, but it’s right down the street. I was unaware of this option. Apparently anyone can request it. I’m not planning on doing it, but I was curious if anyone else here has, and specifically why you would. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805/2 "2015-11-06T14:43:44Z")
**Moderator Action** Since this is an informal poll, it belongs in IMHO. Moving thread from General Questions to In My Humble Opinion. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805/3 "2015-11-06T14:46:23Z")
I personally am not blurring my house, nor do I intend to in the future. Google will automatically blur some things, like faces in windows. The last time I looked, it had part of my bushes blurred but did not have any windows blurred. I guess google is protecting the privacy of one of the neighborhood cats. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805/4 "2015-11-06T14:53:27Z")
Ack! Thanks for the move. I knew this is where it belonged, but second cup of coffee has not kicked in yet. Damn cats are always up to evil, so they need their anonymity. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805/5 "2015-11-06T14:53:58Z")
I blurred mine several months ago. I don’t remember why, but i looked up my house on Google’s street view, and saw the picture was taken at a time my house really needed to be power washed. It was embarrassing, so I had it blurred. :o ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805/6 "2015-11-06T15:29:48Z")
I don’t think I would if I had the option. But right now, my subdivision doesn’t even rate a Street View, so it’s a non-issue for me. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805/7 "2015-11-06T16:02:35Z")
I did, and I’m not sure why anymore. You can’t go back, so it’s blurred forever. We have since moved, and I won’t blur this one. I don’t know if the new owner of our house is happy it’s blurred, or not, but I wonder if he will get Google to unblur it since we don’t live there anymore. I should check. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805/8 "2015-11-06T16:06:13Z")
Why do I suspect that if you request Google to blur your house you immediately get put on the watch list of a dozen different security agencies? ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805/9 "2015-11-06T16:17:21Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Why do I suspect that if you request Google to blur your house you immediately get put on the watch list of a dozen different security agencies? I was thinking that it was actually a pretty effective backdoor way for Google to get people to confirm their address and tie it to their online ID. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805/10 "2015-11-06T16:24:01Z")
(Rachel from Card Services interrupted my ETA) ^^^…If they were so inclined, of course. Though, I’m sure they _say_ they won’t do that. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805/11 "2015-11-06T17:09:11Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > I was thinking that it was actually a pretty effective backdoor way for Google to get people to confirm their address and tie it to their online ID. I did it with a dummy email account (non-gmail). I didn’t have to confirm who I was. You can easily blur a house that’s not even yours. ---
**Author:** ![bb49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b38774/32.png) [@bb49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bb49)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805/12 "2015-11-06T17:09:11Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > I blurred mine several months ago. I don’t remember why, but i looked up my house on Google’s street view, and saw the picture was taken at a time my house really needed to be power washed. It was embarrassing, so I had it blurred. :o So now it looks even worse? ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805/13 "2015-11-06T17:46:28Z")
I see why you would want to blur a face that got caught on street view, but I’m not sure what blurring the house is supposed to do to benefit you. To me it just seems like one of those paranoid ‘security precaution that isn’t actually a precaution’ thing. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805/14 "2015-11-06T19:23:51Z")
My husband once opened the door to find a disliked uncle from his estranged family on the doorstep. In a fit of annoyance at the internet making it so easy to track people down, he went onto Google and had our house blurred out. Now you can’t use Google Street View to look at our house at all, nor any house for a block in all directions from our corner house - the blue lines indicating that a street are Street View-mapped are gone. Try going to 664 E. Central Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA (not our home’s address), and you’ll see the blank streets. This happened at exactly the same time my husband did the blurring-out of our house. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805/15 "2015-11-06T19:31:32Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > ry going to 664 E. Central Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA (not our home’s address), and you’ll see the blank streets. This happened at exactly the same time my husband did the blurring-out of our house. But you can still smell the garlic, right? RIGHT??? ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805/16 "2015-11-06T20:00:51Z")
I have not seen one but it would make me 100 times more curious and would wonder why someone would make their own place so noticeable to viewers? If a person has my address, blurring the image on Google Earth will not make it harder to find? Just drive to the address. If they don’t want or are not willing to do that, what are you worried about? If they are willing to physically come to the address, then what? Camo-net over the whole place? I don’t get how blurring can make it harder for someone to find you? ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805/17 "2015-11-06T20:20:55Z")
In my husband’s case, logic had little to do with it. I think he saw it as more of a digital “f— you” to any other family members browsing the 'net and looking at his house. When I use Street View to armchair-walk around Germany, I notice that _lots_ of people there blur out their houses or apartment buildings. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805/18 "2015-11-06T21:05:41Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > My husband once opened the door to find a disliked uncle from his estranged family on the doorstep. > > In a fit of annoyance at the internet making it so easy to track people down, he went onto Google and had our house blurred out. Now you can’t use Google Street View to look at our house at all, nor any house for a block in all directions from our corner house - the blue lines indicating that a street are Street View-mapped are gone. > > Try going to 664 E. Central Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA (not our home’s address), and you’ll see the blank streets. This happened at exactly the same time my husband did the blurring-out of our house. Thank God no on ever parks a block up and walks down the street until the house number matches what they expect. 😕 Blurring your house is an ineffectual and pointless gesture. Besides, your county is probably more than happy to provide a picture of the property from street level with their on-line assessor’s real estate database. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805/19 "2015-11-06T22:01:12Z")
This is a little off topic but I noticed Street view has started to ID the year the picture it is from which is a nice feature. Their image of my house is 8 years old now. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805/20 "2015-11-06T23:59:51Z")
Nice memory trip after seeing this thread. I looked at the place we lived in Lisbon. Everything around the building has changed in the 20 years since we lived there. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-blurring-their-house-on-google-maps/736805.md?page=2)