From online shipping to creating account profiles, you’ve probably posted your home address online many times. But you might be surprised how closely companies are following this – and how interested they are when you move.
It’s all about the money: Everyone from your bank to the US Postal Service sells your address information to data brokers, who in turn sell it to many others. And it can get worse: Burglars may want to spy on neighborhoods, while identity thieves may want to intercept mail or spoof an address.
Luckily, our experts have found the best tools to protect your privacy, prevent unwanted people from looking up your new home on mapping apps, and clear your address history with a simple Google search (it’s also useful information if you’re starting a home business) . These are the steps that work best.
Only provide your address if necessary
This first step makes all the other tips work: Keep your home address protected by handing it out only when absolutely necessary. For most people, this includes opening a bank account, registering to vote, and other important life tasks.
But in many other cases, you can provide an alternate address that doesn’t reveal the exact location of your home but still gives you the access and email destination you need. You can provide this address if you want to receive shipments or mail, or if other organizations, such as a gym, health clinic or local registration list, request it. Start this habit when you implement address protection measures.
Blur your current address on map apps
The Street View features on map apps can be very useful when you’re a little lost, but they can also feel like a privacy annoyance when someone can type in your address and get a picture of your house. That’s why Google and others have provided ways to blur your home in street scenes and footage so users can’t reach it at well seen.
As you’ll find in our full guide, you can visit Google Maps on your desktop computer and enter your address. Then just use the Report a problem link and you can manually choose which parts of the streetscape you want to blur, so you and your home are protected.
If you want to blur more than what’s in the black/red box, use the + button to zoom in.
Apple Maps offers a similar privacy feature with its Look Around tool, but you’ll have to specifically ask for it. Send an email to mapsimagecollection@apple.com and provide your home address and a detailed description of your home in the Browse feature. Apple will then blur it for your privacy.
Report your address when you find it in search results
It’s always a good idea to Google your contact information if you’re concerned about your privacy. If you see your address appear in a Google search result (especially when you Google your name or other general information), you can make a specific request to Google to remove it.
To do this, go to your Google account, where you can find the icon option Manage your Google account. Then you can select Data and privacy > History settings > My activity. To elect Other activity in the menu on the left, scroll all the way down until you see the Results about you section and select Get started.
Go to Google’s settings to find removal requests for certain information.
This option allows you to create an alert when Google notices your address in a search. From the alert section of the Results About You menu, you can request to have that information removed from the Internet using the Delete result option. Google won’t do that always do this: It leaves addresses that can be found on government sites, news reports, and some businesses, but it’s a quick way to remove your address if it shows up in annoying places.
Hide your address on social media
Now is the perfect time to check your social media accounts and see if your address is included in your profile information. You may have added it a long time ago without really thinking about it, but social profiles don’t need your address – or for that matter, photos of your house and street. Visit your account information, about you pages, and other places to make sure your address doesn’t appear there.
Check the white pages
White Pages (as opposed to the business-oriented Yellow Pages) is one of the largest collections of home addresses online and often the first stop for someone trying to look up a specific address. The good news is that even though your address is probably in Whitepages, deleting it only takes a few seconds. Simply go to the Whitepages Suppression Request web page, paste the URL of your Whitepages profile, and then request its removal.
Paste your profile URL into the Whitepage unsubscribe form.
Delete accounts or request deletion of your address
Chances are you enter your home address when you sign up for various websites and services. Some of those accounts are important: you’ll probably want Amazon to keep your home address if you receive a lot of shipments, for example. But others are unnecessary, especially if you don’t use that account much anymore.
In these cases, we recommend that you delete your account or contact customer service and request that your profile be deleted. You can also search your promotional emails to get some reminders about the services you may have signed up for with your address. Common goals for cleanup include:
- Log in to store websites
- Old apps that you no longer use
- Political organizations
- Nonprofits and religious organizations
- Legacy subscription services for goods or online content
- Profiles for sports websites
- Competition websites
Invest in a PO Box for deliveries
If you’ve never signed up for a PO Box before, you might be surprised at how easy it is. You can sign up with USPS online, choose from five different local box sizes, and get a box number for your local post office. Prices vary depending on size and location, but usually cost about $30 per box large enough to hold packages, up to about $15 for an envelope box. A mailbox also allows you to save a signature for an important delivery and a few other tricks.
PO Box costs vary by location and size.
If you have a PO Box, you can replace it with almost any account that requires a shipping address, keeping your home address information offline and out of the hands of advertisers. If you’re willing to pay, this is one of the most effective privacy options available.
Some people also prefer to provide an address for a local third-party shipping store so that packages are delivered to the store and can be picked up there. This may work, but it’s important that you contact your local trucking store and ask if they allow this, otherwise it could cause a delay fiasco.
Set up a virtual mailbox (no, not your email)
Virtual mailbox services are common for some businesses, frequent travelers, and companies that are very protective of their addresses. A virtual mailbox receives your email, discards the junk, scans the important mail items and then forwards them to your account so you can view them online, wherever you are.
Virtual mailboxes typically cost about $10 to $20 per month. You’ll need to find a virtual mailbox company that offers services in your area and jump through a few legal hoops to allow the company to handle your mail – steps the service should guide you through. Common options include Anytime Mailbox, PostScan Mail, PhysicalAddress.com, LegalZoom Virtual Mail (formerly Earth Class) and IPostal1.
Arlo’s smart camera has a ton of features, but it may be too much for some users.
Avoid using smart home location settings
A number of smart home devices, including powerful security cameras and doorbells, ask for your home address. They do this to enable more advanced mapping features, settings like Ring’s Bird’s Eye view, weather reports, climate information, and other capabilities. However, if you want to protect your home address from outside eyes and potential sales, try to avoid smart home technology that requires a location.
You can usually find alternatives to devices that want your address, such as security cameras with only local storage and simplified account setup. Signing up for a professional monitoring or subscription service may require address information: you may be able to get away with entering a PO Box or similar alternative, but security systems will generally want your real address.
Turn on a VPN for extra protection
Internet service providers not only know your IP address, they can also find out your physical address or at least its proximity to it. If you want to keep that information to yourself, a VPN or virtual private network is one of the best options.
These services encrypt all your online data and allow you to hide your location in many different ways. Some are free, but the best VPNs typically come with a monthly subscription that starts at just a few dollars. Check out our list of the best VPNs, or check your browser to see if they offer built-in VPN capabilities.
Now that your home address is more private online, consider adding protection with the best no-contract cameras, tips to deter burglars, and the biggest home security mistakes we all make.
