Rampant data collection, from your health data to your scrolling habits, has become a leading profit stream for companies small and large. Users are consenting — often unconsciously — to sharing more and more information with our tech overlords every time they upgrade a new device or buy-in to the latest industry hype.

Meanwhile, public concerns about surveillance are escalating as cities push back against invasive public safety apparatuses, like Flock ALPRs, and more people call into question the normalization of personal surveillance tech, like Ring cameras and tracking apps like Find My or Life360.

The integration of generative AI across all areas of our lives is cranking the dial up even higher.

Since the launch of Apple Intelligence, the company has brought new AI-powered upgrades across its systems and devices, including brand new features in Apple Maps. Maps users can now fly through cities using AI-enhanced aerial views or even return to places they may have forgotten they visited. The company has even integrated personalized ads and sponsored searches.

But while tech is making it easier than ever to see the whole world without leaving your room, its also making it easier for people to find you.

Two of the most commonly used digital maps, Google Maps and Apple Maps, offer users the option to obscure their residences from public view. Both companies automatically blur faces and license plates in the process of documenting and updating their street maps, as well. But no tech is infallible.

Google Maps — the most used navigation app in the country, if not the world — offers a one-stop shop for blurring addresses and other identifying information directly in Maps.

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