GoKawiilYou can completely obscure your home from Google Maps’ view if you’re uncomfortable with it there. Google Maps
Type almost any residential address into Google Maps, switch to Street View and you’ll find a high-resolution photograph of the front of the property – the door, the windows, the cars in the driveway, the layout of the yard. For most homeowners, that level of detail being publicly accessible to anyone with an internet connection is a privacy concern that doesn’t get discussed nearly as much as it should. Google does offer a way to blur your property out of Street View entirely, the request is free, and once it’s approved the blur is permanent. Here’s how to submit one.
The good news is that you don’t have to just accept this exposure as a fact of life. You can actually force Google to censor your home, permanently blurring it out to protect your privacy from prying eyes. It’s a simple way to take back control of your home’s online footprint and ensure that your driveway and windows aren’t part of a global database.
Here’s how to reduce how much of your home is visible online.
For more, check out essential Google Maps tips for travel.
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How to blur your home on Google Maps
You’ll need to do this on your computer since the blurring feature isn’t available in the Google Maps application on iOS or Android. It is accessible through the web browser on your mobile device, but it’s rather difficult to use, so your best option is a trusted web browser on your Mac or PC.
At maps.google.com, enter your home address in the search bar at the top-right, hit return, then click the photo of your home that appears.
Click on the photo of your home, right above your address, on the top-left part of the page. Screenshot by Nelson Aguilar/CNET
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