Are We Losing Our Privacy Online?

Recently my husband was looking for a street address over at Google Maps when he noticed you could get a “street view” of the property to even see what the street and the houses looked like.

Naturally out of curiousity, he chose to take a look at OUR house to see what they had – and sure enough there was a picture of it. What he really didn’t expect but was that if you looked closely enough, you could also easily identify him in the yard mowing our grass!

It poses a huge question: how much privacy do we really have when it comes to our homes? Not only can someone see our home from just a few clicks, but they can also see our cars, our personal belongings, and more.

If they head over to our county’s website, they can then look up our property information and see how much the property was bought for, how much is paid in taxes, and whether those taxes were paid on time or not. They can also get a rough sketch of the floor plot (not on all houses, but many provide the basics of “bedrooms. living room, kitchen, bath, etc.”)

And it really brings some concerns about your privacy. Could this information in the incorrect hands place you and your family at risk? Our county website really recently disabled its “search by name” feature because of security concerns, and many properties of notable judges, police officers, and local celebrities aren’t listed at all.

In some ways, having this kind of public records information is a fantastic source for real estate agents needing to find tax information, liens, and other property information for their buyers and sellers. And in many areas where it is not available makes verifying the information very hard – such as relying on previous owner records and making trips to the courthouse.

But it still remains a huge question: is the ease of use in finding this information worth the lack of privacy? Do you feel safe knowing that just about anyone with access to a computer can find out your home’s floor plot or see exactly what it looks like and identify cars in the driveway?

Do you reckon it’s a excellent thing to have these public records so publicly available – or do you like me have just a sense of feeling like your privacy is being violated and safety could be a concern? Share your thoughts in the comments below.