🏠 Remove Yourself From Google and Blur Your House (2026)

At a glance: every removal route on this page

How do I blur my house on Google Maps Street View?

You ask from inside Street View. Google's help page gives the same steps for computer, Android and iPhone Google Maps Help: Blur Street View imagery (checked 10 Oct 2026):

1. Find your home in Google Maps.
2. Open the Street View image that shows it.
3. Click Report a problem in the bottom right.
4. Select My home. Tick the box to certify you have authority to make the request. Upload proof of address, then enter the address. There is a separate checkbox if your home has no formal address.
5. Complete the rest of the form and submit it.

Who can ask. "Only the home owner or tenant is eligible to request a house blur" Google Maps Help: Blur Street View imagery (checked 10 Oct 2026).

What counts as proof of address. Google accepts utility bills, letters and bank statements dated within six months of the request. It also accepts a lease for the address (which can be older), homeowners insurance or property tax records. Don't send handwritten documents or government ID, and a document showing only a P.O. box will be rejected. Redact names, account numbers and other sensitive details. Files must be PNG, JPG or PDF and under 10MB. Google says it permanently deletes these documents after 60 days Google Maps Help: Blur Street View imagery (checked 10 Oct 2026).

After you submit. Google reviews reports "as fast as we can" and gives no timeframe. If you add an email address, it may contact you for more information or with an update Google Maps Help: Blur Street View imagery (checked 10 Oct 2026).

What Street View blurs without being asked. Google's privacy page says its technology "will automatically blur" faces and number plates. When a user asks for more blurring, "we will blur the entire car, house, or person" Google Street View: Privacy (checked 10 Oct 2026). Its help page for reporting Maps errors adds that "Google doesn't blur satellite or aerial imagery" Google Maps Help: Report data or content errors (checked 10 Oct 2026).

Should I blur my house on Google Maps, and why are some houses blurred?

A blurred house in Street View usually means someone asked for it. Under Google's current policy only the owner or a tenant can request a house blur, and once applied it stays Google Maps Help: Blur Street View imagery (checked 10 Oct 2026). So a blur you find on a house you just bought or rented can't be removed.

Before you ask, weigh three things:

• It is permanent. The blur stays even if you later move out or sell Google Maps Help: Blur Street View imagery (checked 10 Oct 2026).
• It covers one layer. Street View images are only what Google's cars "were able to see on the day that they drove past", and they "could be anywhere from a few months to a few years old" Google Street View: Privacy (checked 10 Oct 2026). Satellite and aerial views are not blurred Google Maps Help: Report data or content errors (checked 10 Oct 2026). Your address can still show up in Search results and on people-search sites. Those need the routes further down this page.
• Other map providers have their own imagery. Apple has its own process (next section).

It is most worth doing if you are escaping abuse or stalking, or if Street View shows something that identifies you. Examples are a name sign, a distinctive car or a visible window into your home.

How do I blur my house on Apple Maps Look Around or Bing Streetside?

Apple Maps Look Around. Apple says it "will censor faces and license plates on images that are published in Look Around" Apple Maps Image Collection, US (checked 10 Oct 2026). If you "would like to request that a face, license plate, or your own house be blurred", its privacy notice tells you to contact Apple Apple Maps Image Collection privacy notice, Canada (PDF, checked 10 Oct 2026). For an image that is already published, it also points you to the "Report an Issue" feature in Maps or on maps.apple.com Apple Maps Image Collection privacy notice, Canada (PDF, checked 10 Oct 2026). The English version of the notice on Apple's site links the address [email protected] for these requests Apple Maps Image Collection privacy notice, English (PDF, checked 10 Oct 2026). Apple's US page doesn't give an email address. It only says "contact us" Apple Maps Image Collection, US (checked 10 Oct 2026). In practice:

1. Open your address in Apple Maps and check whether Look Around (binoculars icon) shows your home.
2. Use Report an Issue in Maps, or email Apple, asking for your house to be blurred. Give the full address and say what should be blurred.

Apple's pages don't say what proof you need, how long it takes or whether the blur is permanent.

Bing Maps Streetside. We could not verify an official process. Microsoft's old Streetside page now redirects to its Azure Maps product page. The Microsoft Privacy Statement (updated September 2026) doesn't mention Streetside or imagery blurring, and the Bing Maps page doesn't show its menus to our checker. If Streetside shows your home, look for a report or feedback link in the image viewer. We have left out step-by-step instructions rather than guess at them.

How do I use Google Results about you?

Results about you is Google's dashboard for finding and removing Search results that show your contact details Google Search Help: Find and remove personal info (checked 10 Oct 2026). You can also open it from your account photo in the Google app Google blog, Phoebe Wong (10 Feb 2026).

1. Set it up. Open Results about you and add your name and contact details. You can add nicknames, maiden names and several phone numbers, home addresses and email addresses Google Search Help: Find and remove personal info (checked 10 Oct 2026). In the US you are then prompted to add government ID numbers too, and existing users can add them directly Google blog, Phoebe Wong (10 Feb 2026).
2. Turn on alerts. With notifications on, "you'll get a notification within a few hours to let you know if any search results matched your name and personal info". After that, you get alerts by email (and in the Google app) when new matches appear Google Search Help: Find and remove personal info (checked 10 Oct 2026).
3. Review matches. Results appear on the To review tab. For each one, request removal or mark it as reviewed Google Search Help: Find and remove personal info (checked 10 Oct 2026).
4. Track requests. Your requests and their status appear under Removal requests, and Google emails you updates Google Search Help: Find and remove personal info (checked 10 Oct 2026).

You can also request removal of a single result from the three-dot menu next to it in Search Google Africa blog (22 May 2024).

What it covers. Your phone number, home address and email address Google Search Help: Find and remove personal info (checked 10 Oct 2026). Since 10 February 2026 it also covers government ID numbers "like a passport, driver's license or social security number". That feature was "rolling out in the U.S." and Google says it is "working to bring it to additional regions" Google blog, Phoebe Wong (10 Feb 2026).

Who can use it. Google's help page says "some of these features are currently rolling out for users who are over the age of 18 in certain markets". It doesn't list the countries Google Search Help: Find and remove personal info (checked 10 Oct 2026). Google announced it for South Africa in May 2024 Google Africa blog (22 May 2024). For removals about someone under 18, Google points to a separate request form Google Search Help: Find and remove personal info (checked 10 Oct 2026).

What a removal does. An approved result either drops out of Search entirely or stops appearing for queries that include your name Google Search Help: Find and remove personal info (checked 10 Oct 2026). Either way, "it doesn't mean that the info is gone from the internet", and "the info still exists on the source web page" Google Search Help: Find and remove personal info (checked 10 Oct 2026). Google also says it "considers some results valuable to the public", such as "government or educational websites, online newspapers, or business websites" Google Search Help: Find and remove personal info (checked 10 Oct 2026).

What else will Google remove from Search?

Google has separate policies for other kinds of harmful content. Each one works by URL, so collect the exact web addresses first.

Personal info and doxxing. Through its content removal form, Google will consider removing results that show Google Search Help: Remove my private info (checked 10 Oct 2026):

• contact details: address, phone number or email
• confidential government ID numbers, such as Social Security, tax ID or resident ID card numbers
• bank account or credit card numbers
• images of your handwritten signature or your ID documents
• private records such as medical records
• confidential usernames and passwords
• doxxing, defined as "your personal info along with explicit or implicit threats against you (or calls for others to harm or harass you)", or "a significant amount of aggregated personal info without a legitimate purpose"

Only the URLs you list are reviewed, and screenshots help Google find the content. Google emails you if it removes a page Google Search Help: Remove my private info (checked 10 Oct 2026).

Explicit images, real or fake. You, or someone acting for you, can ask Google to remove content that shows you nude, in a sexual act or in an intimate state. This includes fake or AI-made sexual imagery when you are identifiable, it "falsely depicts you", and it was shared without your consent Google Search Help: explicit imagery removal (checked 10 Oct 2026). It also covers results that link your name to porn sites you have nothing to do with Google Search Help: explicit imagery removal (checked 10 Oct 2026). For sexual imagery, Google says "we do our best to find and remove duplicates" unless you opt out Google Search Help: explicit imagery removal (checked 10 Oct 2026). Since February 2026 you can start from the image itself: click the three dots on the image, choose "remove result", then "It shows a sexual image of me". You can report several images in one form, track them in Results about you, and opt in to filtering of similar explicit results in future Google blog, Phoebe Wong (10 Feb 2026).

Pages that have already changed. If a site deleted or edited your information but Google still shows the old snippet or cached copy, use the Refresh outdated content tool. Enter the page URL and submit. For an image, copy the thumbnail's link from Google Images first. The tool doesn't remove pages that are still live and unchanged. You have to get the site to change them first Google Search Help: Refresh outdated content (checked 10 Oct 2026).

What will Google not remove?

• Anything outside Google. "Google can only remove things from Google Search results." The content can still be found through links, social media and other search engines Google Search Help: Remove my private info (checked 10 Oct 2026).
• Newsworthy or public-interest content. "If the content is about something important or newsworthy, like the news, Google might not take it down" Google Search Help: Remove my private info (checked 10 Oct 2026). Results about you treats government and educational sites, online newspapers and business websites as potentially "valuable to the public" Google Search Help: Find and remove personal info (checked 10 Oct 2026).
• Your name in general. Outside Europe, Google has no route for removing every result about you, only specific URLs under the policies above. In Europe, the right to be forgotten works on name searches, but Google still weighs public interest (next section).
• Satellite and aerial imagery. "Google doesn't blur satellite or aerial imagery" Google Maps Help: Report data or content errors (checked 10 Oct 2026).
• A house blur you regret. It is permanent Google Maps Help: Blur Street View imagery (checked 10 Oct 2026).

How do I remove my information at the source?

Most results Google shows about you come from people-search sites and data brokers. If you remove the listing there, it drops out of every search engine, not just Google. Google itself tells you to "contact the website's owner" to get information off the source page Google Search Help: Find and remove personal info (checked 10 Oct 2026).

1. Find what is out there. Search your name with your city, phone number and email. Our Google dorking reference has precise search operators. Results about you will also list matches for you Google Search Help: Find and remove personal info (checked 10 Oct 2026).
2. Opt out of people-search sites. Our people-search removal guide lists the major sites with verified opt-out links and what makes listings come back.
3. If you live in California, read our California DROP guide on the state's deletion platform for registered data brokers.
4. Then clean up Google. Once a page has changed or gone, use Refresh outdated content Google Search Help: Refresh outdated content (checked 10 Oct 2026). For anything still live, use Results about you or the private info form Google Search Help: Find and remove personal info (checked 10 Oct 2026) Google Search Help: Remove my private info (checked 10 Oct 2026).

How do I use the right to be forgotten in the EU or UK?

In Europe you can ask Google to delist results for searches on your name, even when they don't fall under the policies above. Google's overview says the right was established in the EU in May 2014 by a European Court ruling. The GDPR later set out a similar "right to erasure" in Article 17. Turkey and Serbia have their own versions, and Quebec has a related right Google Legal Help: Right to be Forgotten overview (checked 10 Oct 2026).

1. Open Google's Right to be Forgotten overview and use the webform it links to Google Legal Help: Right to be Forgotten overview (checked 10 Oct 2026).
2. List each URL, explain how it relates to you and why it should be delisted, and give the name you search for and a contact email. Google may ask for more information Google Legal Help: Right to be Forgotten overview (checked 10 Oct 2026).
3. Someone can apply on your behalf if they can confirm they are legally authorised to. Companies generally can't apply over their corporate name Google Legal Help: Right to be Forgotten overview (checked 10 Oct 2026).

What Google weighs. Google weighs the public interest against your data protection rights. It looks at whether the content relates to a public role (political candidates and senior officials are less likely to be delisted). It also looks at the source (government pages get strong deference and recent journalism is weighed), how old and relevant the information is, and whether it is sensitive, such as health, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity or religion Google Legal Help: Right to be Forgotten overview (checked 10 Oct 2026). If you say the content is untrue, Google asks for reliable evidence such as a court ruling Google Legal Help: Right to be Forgotten overview (checked 10 Oct 2026).

Scope. Delisting applies only to searches on your name and to Google's European country versions. Google also uses geolocation to restrict access in your country. After a 2019 EU court decision, delistings don't extend to Google's services for countries outside the EU Google Legal Help: Right to be Forgotten overview (checked 10 Oct 2026).

UK. Google's overview doesn't mention the UK. The UK regulator, the ICO, explains your right to get your data deleted. Organisations have "one calendar month to respond to your request", and you can complain to the ICO if you're unhappy with the response ICO: Your right to get your data deleted (30 Sep 2026). The ICO page doesn't mention search engines. The Google webform itself blocks automated reading, so we couldn't check which countries it lists. Choose your country on the form.

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People-Search Removal Guide California DROP Guide Optery vs DeleteMe Google Dorking Reference Address Lookup Person Search