‘People have no clue’: Mass. residents erasing homes from radar of would-be thieves with simple step

well it's a simple step that could erase your home from the radar of wouldbe Thieves homeowners are blurring their properties on Google Maps to those to deter potential burglars Boston 25 news reporter Drew CA shows us this added tool in the Arsenal protect yourself from criminals your home is a place where you should feel most safe but in this digital era the information about where you live is accessible to others with a simple search our very homes we live in the vehicles we drive the the locations we stay are available to anyone around the globe Boston 25 News security analyst Daniel Linsky who's the former superintendent in Chief of the Boston Police Department says organized criminals are analyzing properties using Google Street View to scout potential targets analyzing the value and layout of homes how to get in and out and if there's a visible front door camera or exterior surveillance system technology is getting better and better and criminals are using technology to get better and better he says one step people are taking to limit criminals access to that technology is blurring their homes on Google Maps a simple step you can take in a matter of moments most people have no clue whatsoever for people wondering could blurring your home actually bring more attention to it possibly anything can happen but the less information that's on the web about you that gives someone at Advantage the better off you are to blur your home on Google Maps navigate to Street View mode using the we site a drop- down menu will appear in the top left corner of your screen there you can click on report a problem a questionnaire will then allow you to indicate where and why you would like the street view image to be blurred I think I would want to blur my house out so I who needs to really see my house besides me and my family Newton mother Renee Koran says she never knew erasing her home on Google Maps was an option I do feel like technology is sort of taking over in a in a way that I'm very concerned about for others who feel this simp step may help them stay one step ahead of the wouldbe thieves you'll need to do it on your computer since the blurring feature isn't available in the Google Maps application and it's also important to know once a property is blurred the change is permanent are there any downsides to someone blurring their home on Google Maps I can't think of a downside for it right unless you want to show people what your house looks like for those who want to limit public access to their house and possessions Linsky also suggests considering moving interior home images from websites like redin and Zillow in some of the Real Estate websites you can go on and see whether the home has an alarm system uh you can actually look at the photographs of the home and see where the cameras are set up to keep people safe and secure as for what else you can do to keep your house safe display signage indicating what security you have reinforce windows with window stops and keep doors cars and windows locked at all times Drew caras for your local station Boston auson 25 News Patriots could be very