These days, it’s hard to escape the gaze of Google, Microsoft or Apple, which provide Internet users with a 360-degree view of virtually any street in the world, including your own. But there are ways of alerting these services, and of asking them to blur content you want to keep private.

For legitimate privacy reasons, you can ask the providers of online mapping services to blur your face, license plate or even your entire home in their virtual navigation applications. The most famous of these is Street View, found in Google Maps.

The procedure is simple to follow, and works equally well on smartphones and PCs. Switch to Street View mode and position yourself opposite the object you wish to blur. Then select the “report a problem” option by opening the three-dot menu, and fill out the form that opens up.

Here, you’ll need to adjust the view so as to highlight the area of the image presenting a problem, then specify which element you wish to blur: a face, your home, your car’s license plate or another object. Once you’ve submitted your request, Google will notify you when the blurring is complete.

The procedure is much the same on Bing Maps and its Streetside View tool. Select “Report a privacy issue with this image” and follow the same procedure.

Finally, on Apple Maps, simply send an email to MapsImageCollection@apple.com detailing your request, obviously specifying the address where the feature to be blurred is located, and the company will take action. Apple says it is committed to ensuring that no faces or license plates are identifiable in images used as part of its Look Around feature.

 - AFP Relaxnews