The Google Maps Feature That Criminals Love (And How to Protect Yourselves)

However, one of the key features that makes Google Maps different from the other navigation apps, including Waze—so it's one of the reasons the search giant doesn't want to merge the two apps—is the support for a non-navigation component.

Google Maps is more than a simple sat-nav solution. It also includes capabilities that make world exploration, searching for information and products, and discovering businesses more convenient.

Street View has now become a double-edged sword.

Street View is a Google Maps feature – also available as a separate app on mobile devices – that allows users to explore a certain region using street-level imagery.

Google captures the data using vehicles, bicycles, or backpacks, and you can see photos as if you're there. This makes world exploration a breeze, and Street View imagery can help in a wide variety of ways, from planning a trip to getting familiar with a route before you jump behind the wheel.

As with all the good things in life, criminals also misuse Street View in the most horrible way, ruining it for us for their nefarious purposes.

More experts are now warning that criminals turn to Street View for a simple yet smart idea. They look for targets, using the high-quality street-level imagery offered by Google on the web and mobile devices to look for ways to break in.

It sounds horrible, but criminals find Street View an extremely valuable tool to plan their hits. Street View gives them the opportunity to analyze a potential target without exposing their moves or being seen at the scene.

Thanks to the high-res photography, they can see houses, windows, doors, potential surveillance cameras, and cars parked in front. They can also plan car thefts, so our houses aren't the only ones at risk.

A recent report reveals that thieves are particularly interested in the value and layout of homes. They typically look for the entrance, plan their hits, and determine where they can get in and out.

Everything can be done from the comfort of their sofas, as they can just explore the images available online without being hit.

They can also search for expensive cars parked in front of the cars, sometimes trying to determine if the owner is a wealthy person by examining the vehicle and then their home.

Fortunately, Google offers a way to prevent criminals from accessing all this information from Street View. It involves homeowners requesting the Google Maps team to blur their property on the application, blocking Internet users from seeing their homes online.

The process is simple, but it typically takes time because each request must be processed manually.

The first thing you must do is open Google Maps on a computer in the browser. Navigate to your home address and open the Street View mode. Load images revealing your home, and when the image is centered on the house, look for the button in the bottom right corner of the screen where you see an option called "Report a problem."

Click this option and follow the on-screen wizard. You'll be required to provide more information about your request and highlight where you want the blur effect applied, as Google Maps will only hide the house and not something else appearing on the street.

The form is also available on Android and iPhone, and the process is similar. However, it's essential that you open the Street View image that you want to blur and complete the form with the required information. When the request is processed, you'll receive an email, though Google says its teams might also contact you to request additional information.

You can find more information on the requests to blur Street View imagery in this support document. It's worth knowing that once the blur effect is applied, it's permanent and won't be removed from Google Maps.

Street View should protect your car's registration plate and your face automatically, but if you spot an issue – because yes, these errors still happen occasionally – you can use the same report form to request an update and protect your identity.

Google will comply with your request if you send the form and fill in the necessary information, but keep in mind that the edits aren't made overnight. I've seen people complaining that Google sometimes needs over a month to blur their houses on Street View, and considering more people will likely send similar requests in the future, the processing time could increase.