CHARLOTTE – Homeowners can now take a preventative measure in protecting their privacy and security by blurring their home in the street-view feature on Google Maps.
All you have to do is type your address into Google Maps. Once you see the street view, click on the three little dots in the top corner, then hit “report problem”.
from there, once it takes you to a new screen, you can select what you want to blur.
That could be your home, your car’s license plate in the driveway, or even you.
According to CMPD’s second quarter crime statistics report in July, there were 858 residential burglaries so far in 2024.
Julie Meunier is a cyber analyst for Fortalice. She says this is a great option for residents to prevent potential burglars from seeing other access points they could get in through.
“It also protects the people from entry points,” says Meunier. “That’s a big one with burglar’s, finding out where’s the front door? Where are the windows? Where are people parking when they’re planning an attack like this?”
Of course, there are pros and cons to this tool. Once you submit the blur request, it can not be undone. However, once Google redoes their maps’ street views every few years, your home will be visible again, so you’d have to re-do the blur feature if you choose to.