By TECHBOOK | Jun 27, 2023 at 6:12 p.m
Google is taking new photos for its Street View photo street view across Germany. But where and when does this happen? And what can those who do not want to find their house view on the Internet do?
In June 2023, it was announced that Google would send its Street View cars back onto German roads. Equipped with cameras, the vehicles collect panoramic images of streets throughout Germany in order to renew the street views (Street View) in the map application Maps. This is also sorely needed, because the previous data in this country is from 2010 and is therefore 13 years old. However, anyone who spoke out against the recording of their property or the front of their house during the first tour, and this then had to be pixelated, must now take action again. TECHBOOK reveals how users can object to Google’s Street View recordings.
Google reveals where and when the Street View cars drive
In the coming weeks and months, people in Germany must expect to cross the path of a Google car with a camera mast. Where exactly and approximately when is revealed by Google via a query option on the Street View page (“The next destinations for Street View images”). Admittedly only to the month, but at least broken down to the city or at least the district.
According to this, trips in Germany are currently planned until October 2023. In addition, Google had already made new recordings in this country in the course of 2022. According to Google’s privacy policy, all of the material should not be put online before mid-July. Owners or tenants still have enough time to object to the use of Street View recordings and to have their houses or apartments made unrecognizable in the recordings. Because they have this right – even in advance, for example using an online form.
Important: If you have already had your property made unrecognizable for the current Street View version and want to keep it that way, you still have to object again.
Also read: The craziest pictures on Google Street View
No time limit for objecting to Street View recordings
Otherwise, the blurring is still possible at any time after the publication of the new street views. To do this, call up the corresponding view in Google Maps, click on the three-point menu at the top left or right and select “Report a problem”.
However, the function is by no means only intended for facade cases. It also works when street views show something offensive, for example, or copyright issues that Google slipped through the cracks. Incidentally, faces and license plates are still automatically displayed so blurred that you can no longer see anything or identify anyone. Here, users do not have to submit a separate objection to the use of the Street View recordings.
Blur on Apple Look Around
That’s how Apple handles it in its “Look Around” photo street view of its Maps app. And there, too, there is a “Report a problem” menu item in each view, which you can use to draw Apple’s attention to problematic recordings or your own house that you no longer want to see there.
By the way, the old and older street views from Google are good for something else. There is a so-called archive function in Google Maps for certain locations where views have been recorded over many years. You can use a slider to see how the place has changed over time.
With material from dpa