My mom and dad don’t live in the town that shows this article, but they live in a house quite close by and with very similar architecture. It’s easy to go unnoticed when you live in a skyscraper or apartment in a big city. Not so much in a small municipality and in a similar house: A lot of information can be discovered about you just by looking at your exterior.. Therefore, it is the duty of the day for my family to take extreme security measures such as closing windows at street level or not leaving the door open under any circumstances.

And then came Google Maps. The surprise came when we taught them how to use it Google Maps inevitably searched for homes in Street View: You could see the hanging clothes, our flower pots, the color of the interior curtains and also my father’s car which he usually parked in front of the house. There is a lot of information for curious people and those who like other things and my parents informed me about it.

To great evils, to evil remedies: I made a decision to calm my parents: I told them that it was possible. Ask Google to blur our home to add an extra layer of protection and enhance our privacy.

This is how I asked Google to blur my house in Maps Street View

It seems so ridiculous but The information that can be obtained from in-depth analysis of the image is valuablewhether it is inhabited or abandoned, what is the purchasing power in the area, whether there are valuables that are easily accessible, access to the property (e.g. my house doesn’t have bars on the door, but my neighbor’s house does).

Discovering what you see on Google Maps and the Street View function is as simple as typing your address in the application box and clicking on the thumbnail to view the surroundings. Then we press the button with three dots in the upper right corner and ‘enter’ thereReport a problem‘.

At that moment a form will appear that we must fill out and in this case we will have to choose what we want to blur. What we are interested in choosing is ‘My home’Next, we must confirm that we are actually authorized to claim it (either because it is ours or because we are renting it) and provide further details identifying it.

Finally, we add our email and do a captcha to verify that we are a person. Google details that this is an irreversible process.

It will take a few days for the change to come into effect. Google accepts this as there may be cases where it is rejectedfor example if you live in a building of cultural significance or if your home is in a block of flats where more people live.

Cover | Photo by Jesús Esteban San José on Pexels

Xataka on Android | Google Maps in detail: a guide with 38 tricks to take advantage of all its functions