"Google says the document is deleted after 60 days."

Lol. They absolutely keep all of the data.

The two counter arguments to this are:

1. You are giving more personal data to google to prove you live at that address.

2. A blurred house on street view makes you stand out and can make burglars think you are some rich guy with valuable stuff in their house.

Google maps has a picture of my house from about 10 years before i moved in and it looks exactly like all the other houses around me...

...but i should give google personal information and utility bills to get it taken down?

Nah.

don't tell google where you live

"permanant"

Brought to you by the same companies that "accidentally" re-add you to their spam lists.

Feeding Google more data is always a good idea...

Why would I do this? It’s just a door with a number on it.

The house we moved to last year had been blurred by the previous owners. It's permanent, so we don't get a choice about it.

Tbh this is the only house I've ever looked up that was blurred.

I get why, but it's also inconvenient. So many of us (in my area, anyway) look up the house on Streetview when going to an unfamiliar address, to help orient ourselves.

It's not something I lose sleep over. But given the option, in a neighbourhood with no other blurred houses, in a low-crime, lost surveillance area, I don't think I would have chosen to blur the house.

Everyone does know that the front of your house is visible from the street, right?

This is such a backwards-ass way to do things. I built my house using extra large bricks so it would be pixelated to begin with

burglars do their recon in pyjamas now. Make them commute

Hey now, no need to bash wfh!

Tbh the outside of my home is publicly viewable anyway. I can't think of why I'd care much.

Being the only blurred thing in the area seems a little conspicuous though

Lol as i am going to send google extra information to get a bit more privacy back. Thata stupid

Do no do this, it will require more info to Google and make your house stick out like a sore thumb.

Streisand time

But now your making yourself more obvious, and you need to tell google your address. Is it really worth it?

So now they know where you live....

This should be opt-in, not opt out. IDGAF if it is public information that is perfectly viewable from the street, it shouldn't be on the internet without my consent. There are plenty of perfectly good reasons to blur your house aside from the worry of petty thieves. One, your privacy should be treated with respect. Streisand Effect doesn't really apply here because no one gives a shit if your house is blurred. No one cares as streetview passers by. Talk to your neighbors and then the whole street is blurred like my old street.

This does not obviate the need for action at the legislative level. Google has used the streetview cars to collect plates and radio signals including WiFi information, who knows what else. They have so many databases of information on each of us to sell to adverts and to give freely to police.

This opt out is a positive, likely carved out by litigation, in a very very negative space for privacy rights.