Some People's Houses Are Blurred on Google Maps Without Them Requesting It

What did we do before Google Maps? The navigation service not only gives you the ability to get almost anywhere in the world, it also provides street views and satellite imagery of many corners of the world. If you're house hunting, you might use streetview to take a look at what the house you're thinking about buying really looks like.

Some people have noticed, though, that their houses are blurred on Google Maps. These blurs are relatively common but usually come at the request of the owner. After some people have discovered that their house is blurred out, many are wondering what the reason might be.

If you've noticed that the house you currently own or are living in is blurred out, it's possible that a previous owner requested the blur. It's also possible that someone random did it. Anyone can request that a property be blurred on Google Maps, and it's unclear how Google makes the ultimate determination about whether a house should be blurred or not.

Unfortunately, Google Maps doesn't have any process to request your house be un-blurred, so some properties are stuck that way.

The blur feature was originally designed to allow users some privacy. Although Google Maps Street View only shows the exterior of a home, there are certain pieces of information you can glean, including a house's floor plan and the various ways there are to enter it.

Some people didn't want that information to be available to the public, and Google wanted to respect their right to privacy.

Unfortunately, Street View can also be a useful tool for those looking to sell their home, but if your home has been blurred, you might be out of luck. Google controls a massive piece of the GPS market, and people have become reliant on its services. Blurring your house can be a great feature, but the fact that it's nearly impossible to undo is a hardship unto itself for some people.

Because the process of getting a home blurred on Maps is a bit of a black box, we may never know why some homes are blurred and others are not. And, while some people are upset that their home is blurred for practical reasons, other people have attempted to use Street View to take a nostalgia trip to a previous address, only to discover that the new owners blurred out their photos on Street View.

Of course, Street View has issues other than the blur problem. In many parts of the world, the photos that Google captured are quite old and need updating. In some places, it's been more than a decade since new images were captured, so even if your photo is unblurred, it may not reflect the current condition of your house. As a result, it's probably best not to rely too heavily on Google for any needs you might have related to seeing a house.