Street View, Privacy and Blurring Requests

Because Street View captures real people and property going about everyday life, privacy is an important part of how the system is designed and operated. This page explains, in general terms, how privacy protections typically work for street level imagery and what options exist for people who want something blurred or removed.

Automatic blurring

Mapping companies generally use automated image recognition technology to detect faces and vehicle licence plates in captured imagery, blurring them before the images are published. This is intended to reduce the chance that an identifiable person or number plate appears clearly in a public Street View image. The detection is not perfect: occasionally a face or plate is missed, or conversely something is blurred that did not need to be, such as a sign that resembles a face pattern.

Requesting additional blurring

Beyond automatic blurring, most Street View services offer a way for individuals to request that a specific image be blurred further, such as blurring an entire house, a car, or a person who was not caught by the automatic system. This is usually done through a reporting tool built into the mapping application itself. When viewing a Street View image, there is typically an option, often found in a menu or under a flag or report icon, to report a problem with that specific image. Selecting an option related to privacy usually leads to a short form where the user specifies what needs to be blurred and why.

Once such a request is submitted and approved, the blurring applied is generally permanent for that image. This means the change cannot later be undone for that particular photograph, so it is worth being certain before requesting a permanent blur.

What can reasonably be requested

Common reasons people request blurring include:

Their own face appearing clearly in an image.
Their vehicle's licence plate being visible and not already blurred.
Their home, where they prefer the street level view of their house not to be publicly visible.
Sensitive locations, such as shelters or facilities where visibility could pose a safety concern.

Keep in mind that blurring a house does not remove it from satellite or aerial imagery, which is a separate layer of most mapping services with its own policies. A Street View blur only affects the ground level panoramic image.

Security camera footage versus Street View

It is worth distinguishing Street View, which is a periodically updated archive of still panoramic images, from live security or surveillance footage. Street View does not provide real time footage of a location. It reflects a single moment when the car or operator passed by, which could have been months or years before someone views it. This distinction matters for anyone concerned about being tracked in real time through Street View: the imagery is historical, not live.

Practical tips for concerned residents

For residents of South Africa who are concerned about how their property appears in Street View, a few practical steps are worth considering:

Search your own address periodically to see what imagery is currently published for your street.
If you find an image you want changed, use the built in reporting tool within the mapping application rather than looking for a separate external process, since this is generally the official channel.
Be specific in any report about exactly what should be blurred, for example the house itself rather than the whole street, to avoid unnecessary loss of detail for neighbours.
Remember that future imagery updates, when the area is next photographed, will not automatically carry over a blur request from an older image, since each capture is a new photograph.

Overall, Street View privacy tools exist to give people reasonable control over how their immediate surroundings appear in a public mapping service, while keeping the broader usefulness of the imagery intact for navigation and general reference.