50 Odd, Yet Hilarious Things People Stumbled Across On Google Maps

The world of navigation has never been the same since Google Maps was released in 2005 and became a quintessential tool for anyone who needs to get from one place to another, offering detailed directions, real-time traffic updates, and alternative routes. Ask any traveler and they will tell you that navigating in a different country without the app on their phone would be barely possible (we've surely gotten too lazy to use good old paper maps!).

Meanwhile, on the internet, Google Maps has offered a whole new kind of entertainment. With people browsing deeper into the platform, they soon realized there are interesting things captured there.

But experts warn that Google Maps, just like Google Earth and Google Street View, may cause some privacy concerns most people are completely unaware of. Previously, we spoke with cybersecurity expert Daniel Markuson from NordVPN, who shed a light on these privacy concerns.

“Google Street View cameras are able to capture images and moments that people would like to keep private (such as protesters at an abortion clinic, people in bikinis, or other activities that are wanted to be private, even though they are visible from the public property),” he said.

Moreover, Google Street cameras take pictures from an elevated position and are able to capture pictures over hedges that are designed to keep territories private.

While faces and car numbers are blurred automatically, and anyone can request to blur parts of the picture, it doesn’t mean people can have full privacy. “There are still many images of potential break-ins, sunbathers, and individuals entering adult bookstores that could be found online as they were republished so many times,” Markuson told us.

Markuson reminds us that “people photographed by Google Street cameras never give their consent for doing that. And this is a big privacy issue as anybody who wants to remain completely private in the digital world should have the right to do that.”

Another important thing to be aware of, Markuson argues, is that “if you enable location tracking on your Google Maps, Google will collect data about your whereabouts under its Location History section. It is being done across devices where you’re signed in with your Google account. If you’ve been keeping your location tracking on, you can see your own location history map here.”

“Needless to say that by using Google Maps for planning routes and searching for places, you’re feeding Google with valuable information about your whereabouts which can later be used for targeting you with ads,” the cybersecurity expert said.

Moreover, Google Earth privacy issues are mostly connected to its Google Street View feature. “Many people don’t want their homes to be shown there as they see this as a breach of their privacy,” Markuson concluded.