The Internet has revolutionized the way we live, work and spend our free time, but having the world at our fingertips comes at a price. Many times the sites we frequent, email accounts we use and social networking sites we enjoy create a trail of information about us, accessible to anyone who knows where to look.

A client called me the other day, about this very issue. His son was playing around on Google maps, and within a few moments was able to access photos of their house on Google’s Street View. As a father of 2 young kids and a business owner who ran a home office, my client was concerned about what this would mean for the safety of his home and privacy of his business. Would competitors realize he was working form home and drive by his house? Was his family safe while he was away on a sales call?

I assured him that there was an easy way to have these images removed, and I thought  I would share this beneficial information with all of you. If you would like to have the street view image removed from your local Google listing all you need to do is follow these simple steps…

 1)  Enter your address into Google Maps

 2)  While you are on the ‘Street View’ Image click on the ‘Report a Problem’ link in the lower left hand corner of the Street View image.

 3)  A box will pop up allowing you to send an email directly to Google. Explain the problem and Google will review your request and take appropriate action. You can even click the box below the email field to request that they send you an email when the issue is resolved.

For more information on this click on this Google Maps help link.

Carlos Garcia

CarlosGarcia.com