California police reveal that an increasing number of people are blurring their residences on Google Maps to protect themselves against burglars who might use the publicly available imagery of their houses to plan their thefts.
According to a police officer of the Riverside Police Department, Ryan Railsback, potential criminals are relying on technology to commit crimes, so the general public should be proactive and take necessary steps to deter criminals.
Railsback argued that blurring your properties on Google Maps means that criminals cannot get useful information about your possessions and any security protocols that you use to protect your property.
Google spokesperson has previously suggested that the tech giant allows people to blur their houses on the map. Google argued that their Street View is a useful feature that allows anyone to explore the world while sitting in their home, but users can always go to report a problem section and submit a request to blur their homes. The spokesperson also noted that their algorithm automatically blurs license plates and any identifiable face that may emerge on Google Maps.
Criminology expert Christopher Herrmann stated that potential robbers find it easy to “scout” their target locations before staging an actual crime.
He mentioned that these criminals can look for potentially valuable things to steal or the presence of surveillance cameras and the overall home layout to plan their robbery better.
However, Herrmann stated, blurring homes can be a double-edged sword as it can signal to potential thieves that this property has valuable things to hide, which eventually attracts them to these blurred properties.
Blurring your home on Google Maps Street View is a straightforward procedure for which you need to use a computer, as the blurring feature is still not available on the Google Maps mobile application.
First, go to maps.google.com and type your home address into the search bar located at the top of the page. Once you retrieve the images of your house, open the street view, scroll down to the bottom-right corner of the screen, and look for the “Report a Problem” link. Next, you will need to adjust the view so that your home, and anything else you want to blur, fits within the red and black box that appears on the screen. After adjusting the view, you will need to indicate what you want Google to blur. Make sure you are certain about the things you want to blur because it is an irreversible process.
