How to protect your privacy on Google Maps: Blur your house, car’s license plate, and more
Google Maps Street View offers a 360-degree view of surroundings, but raises privacy concerns. Google implements rules to blur identifying details and allows users to request blurring of sensitive information.
Google Maps offers the Street View feature, which is a valuable tool enabling users to explore nearby areas, locate shops, discover routes, and find various points of interest. However, this feature is not extensively available in India. With Street View, users can immerse themselves in a fully interactive 360-degree view of their surroundings or any desired location.
The Street View on Maps provides a comprehensive representation of reality, showing the names of nearby establishments, buildings, parked cars, and roads. While this level of detail can be incredibly useful, it also raises concerns about privacy and potential exposure of sensitive information to the public. To address these concerns, Google has implemented dedicated rules and regulations to safeguard privacy and ensure responsible use of this powerful feature.
According to Google's official support page, Street-level collections and Photo Paths are subject to automatic blurring, which effectively conceals identifying details such as faces and license plates. Additionally, if you are the individual responsible for uploading the 360-view photo, you are given the choice to decide which elements in the image will be made visible and which ones will be intentionally blurred, as a measure to uphold the privacy of others.
Google no longer provides support for Photo Paths, and as a result, new Photo Paths cannot be uploaded to Google Maps. If Google is not the owner of a photo, it is the responsibility of the photo owner to blur any sensitive content before publishing it. However, if you come across an unblurred photo that violates privacy guidelines, you have the option to report it to Google and request a blur for the problematic area.
Here are the steps you can follow to request Google to add blur to specific locations on Google Maps:
- Open "maps.google.com" on a compatible browser like Chrome.
- Log in to your Google account if you have not already.
- Navigate to the location on the map where you want Google to blur certain details, such as a house, car's number plate, or an address.
- Click on the three vertical dots located at the name tag of the location and select "Report a problem."
- On the next page, choose the specific element you want to report, whether it's a building, number plate, or any other detail.
- Provide a reason for the report and complete the captcha verification. Also, make sure to enter your email address.
- Click on "Submit" to register the request for adding blur to the selected location.
Following these steps will allow you to request Google to blur sensitive information on the chosen locations within Google Maps.
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Business NewsTechnologyHow to protect your privacy on Google Maps: Blur your house, car’s license plate, and more
First Published:1 Jul 2023, 05:00 PM IST
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