Wouldn’t it be funny if everyone did that, making Street View completely useless lol
this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2025
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Google Street View wasn't updated for 15 years in Germany because of that. There was a huge drama when it was first announced and people were scared it would be used by criminals to scout buildings, leading to everyone blurring their houses. It got so bad that Google basically just gave up.
I remember looking up an address in 2020, only to find out that the house didn't even exist yet on the capture from 2008 lol.
Man I like germany because people care about privacy
You have no idea how many times I heard "but I have nothing to hide" in germany.
We're still protected, but the public opinion on it was successfully shifted
In the geoguessr community, Germany is commonly referred to as "Blurmany" because so many buildings are blurred
Food delivery scammers will often do this and blur out their whole street. That way, when they report to their Uber Eats that they never got their order, the support team can't compare the driver's delivery photo to anything and will usually refund the meal because of it.
Nick Fuentes did this last year when he assaulted a woman who knocked on his door.
Of course, it's not hard to figure out what building is in-between numbers 1824 and 1828...
Don't leave us hanging, what building is in between?
The one that smells like a piece of Nazi shit.
Does Google require proof you live there and give that info to the cookie monster that powers its profits??
Am I too paranoid at this point?
Google already knows where you live.
Feels like the Streisand effect would apply
The method is... too simple? So anyone can blur anyones anything?
It's also just dumb that imagery taken from a street isn't doing anything privacy-invading or illegal yet they still feel the need to coddle paranoid NIMBYs. Street View can sometimes be useful for OSM, since you might've been there but forgotten to document something, are too far away, etc. Street View as a concept works to the public's benefit, although Google owning it and it being proprietary isn't good. I can see this removal feature being a good thing by probably one out of every thousand times it's actually used, namely in the case that you have some kind of stalker (even then, though, satellite view 99% of the time would give you a concerning amount of info compared to Street View).
A scammer will use an image of your house for a rental ad. They will have a locksmith change the locks and rent the house out to an unsuspecting family. Then you have to evict them to get your house back.
So the scammer could save the trouble of taking their own photo?
A little difficult to take a photo from nigeria.
You think someone in Nigeria is able to change the locks and evict someone from their home in another country? I'll have some of whatever you're smoking.
You can call a local locksmith and tell them a story and they might go for it.
Yeah, I have a hard time seeing a way that one can really do a while lot to create privacy issues with Google Street View.
There just isn't anything else to really combine the data with that exposes data that otherwise was private, or issues created by the scale.
Maybe if Google could one day use the database to identify a location from a photo, but then it's not really the Street View service at issue.
Let's not forget anyone can fly light weight quadcopters and planes with cameras on them within the boundaries of private property. Most aviation authorities around the world are in control of air space, and that air space in most countries starts a micron above the ground. And therefore it's perfectly legal for anyone to fly something within the boundaries of your property. Now you could get into trouble for being a peeping Tom, aggravation, etc depending on the circumstance. But nothing can be done if someone was to do a quick fly over.
In my opinion blurring out street view only protects you against the 'script kiddies' of the stalking/spying world.
One thing about blurring in street view. Once it's done, it cannot be undone. So I'd have consideration for others before going ahead with making a request.
Yeah, I'm surprised they don't at least verify your address.
Remember, you still live in the location, so you can always step outside to see your home if you need a reminder of its appearance
Lol
we should blur everything
hell yes i love making things on the internet super annoying to use
We need to get a group of houses in the shape of a penis to all blur there house's
Time to penis -- 2:18
I've also heard it's a one way street (dad pun) - meaning it's not reversible
wow this specific building must be loaded with valuables