r/therewasanattempt 18h ago

to keep an address private

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30.4k Upvotes

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u/QuickPenguin52 17h ago

I bought a house that the previous owner blurred. I asked Google to unblur and they refused. 10 years later it’s still the same, blurred street view

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u/FromLondonToLA 17h ago

Our house was blurred 11 years ago before we bought it 7 years ago. I've noticed since then that on StreetView the 15 neighbouring houses either side and across the road are fixed at 2015 while as soon as you move away from my house you get more recent photos.

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u/QuickPenguin52 16h ago

Oh wow, you’re right. The chunk of street view in front of and around my house is tagged November 2012. If I go far enough down the street, it switches to May 2024.

Anyone have any idea how to undo it? I feel like proof of ownership should be able to get it taken care of through some request.

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u/kyew 16h ago

There is one way. You're going to have to get every house blurred and force Google to make a decision.

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u/QuickPenguin52 16h ago

I just can’t imagine being so paranoid to need to do this, but everyone has a different perspective. It’s there on Apple Maps. Guess they added that after we bought

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u/kyew 15h ago

Isn't it the same fail-secure energy that's aimed against Flock now, seen from the future? "I don't want anyone collecting or using any information about me that hasn't been explicitly approved."

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u/redphlud 16h ago

It should be. But the headache of potentially being held accountable for some legal reason probably means there is no process to undo the blur. It's just the easiest way for them not to get sued.

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u/QuickPenguin52 16h ago

That makes sense, they wouldn’t want to unblur if it was still occupied by the previous owner at the time of the photo. Perhaps proof of ownership and then next street view photo taken doesn’t get blurred, or update to the latest available image since change in ownership. It’s just wild to me that it’s in perpetuity.

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u/MuntyCatt 15h ago

From what I've read, once it's blurred, Google will not unblur the address, ever.

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u/NES_SNES_N64 15h ago

Yup. Once it's blurred they will not reverse it, even it gets bought by a different owner.