Google Maps begins to blur the faces of dogs, what is the reason for this measure?

Online privacy is one of the topics that has generated the most debate in recent years due to the advancement of technology and -in some cases- its interference in people’s lives. Although it has become clear that the identity of humans must be treated with great care, a new change in Google Maps adds an edge to this field with other beings as protagonists.

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Now, in addition to blurring the faces of human beings captured with its Street View function, the faces of dogs present on the streets are also blurred. As they point out from Reddit, the faces of these pets have also been hidden for some time.

“When we create Street View content from 360º video recordings submitted by users, we apply our algorithms to automatically blur faces and license plates”Google told The Mirror.

Example of a dog with a blurred face on Google Maps. (Photo: Google Maps)

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However, although the company mentioned the above, the data protection regulations (RGPD) do not contemplate animals. For this reason, it is not entirely clear if this change has been deliberately implemented by the company or if it is a failure of its algorithm.

According to what The Mirror report mentions, this change seems to have been implemented to protect the identity of people close to the pet that appear in the Street View of Google Maps. However, it is not yet known for sure if this will be extended to other animals that are located near a human, a factor that could be used to identify someone.

Example of a dog with a blurred face on Google Maps. (Photo: Google Maps)

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Source: Elcomercio