If they got my address when requesting a postcard, they could see my house by then searching my address and viewing it on Google Maps streetview or something like that. I’d probably report that to the admins as that is very creepy to send a picture of your house!
15 Likes
If you get a person’s home address, you might be able to use Google Street view to find the house where the recipient lives.
But I personally would never think of doing that, because I would also consider it a violation of personal privacy.
I would also report it to the support, although there’s probably not much they can do about it, except to say that it’s not desirable. You can’t check whether someone continues to do this anyway - at least as long as they don’t send photos of it again.
6 Likes
Anyone whose home address is listed could probably be looked up on Google Street view, Zillow, and a lot of other places.
2 Likes
I guess then we never have total privacy.
3 Likes
I can’t report it since it didn’t happen to me, but I did told the woman it happened to to report it.
1 Like
Yes, if her account has not yet been deregistered, she should definitely do so.
Otherwise, you could ask the support if it’s okay if she gives you the name of the user so you can report it.
2 Likes
Why must she deregister her account? So other people cannot draw her name?
To prevent this from happening, you can blur your house on Google Street View!
Here’s what you have to do:
- Go to Google Maps and enter your home address;
- Enter into Street View mode by dragging the small yellow human-shaped icon (found in the bottom-right corner of the screen) onto the map in front of your house;
- With your house in view, click “Report a problem” in the bottom-right corner of the screen;
- Center the red box on your home, and select “My home” in the “Request blurring” field;
- Write in the provided field why you want the image blurred (for example, you may be concerned about safety issues);
- Enter in your email address and click “Submit”.
22 Likes
Interesting. Thank you.
1 Like
P.O.box is not possible everywhere, like in Finland.
But you can use an address of a friend, parents, work place etc. (with permission).
It can be the person who sent the picture of recipients house (along their own?), meant only to compare, like how different they are.
But I fully understand the discomfort.
Also the sender should understand it can feel like a threat even.
If they didn’t mean that, they will apologise and not do this again.
There has been another thread too, where members told they look the area where a person lives, some think it’s ok. I think to mention about it is creepy, and to send a photo, is more than that.
Edit.
If the letter is not binned, there should be the ID, and I suppose the person can be tracked that way (by the Postcrossing team).
3 Likes
Ask your friend to consider getting a PO box. I have a small one in the town with my vacation house; sadly the cost of the box has been increasing.
2 Likes
UPDATE: My Twitter friend got back to me & said she reported incident to admins. They asked her if she wanted to them to take action. She said no since she was leaving Postcrossing.
1 Like
I am sorry to say so, and I hope I won’t shock anyone, but I have to say that I don’t really understand why it is creepy… Actually, I would be happy if someone told me that he or she saw my house on Google Street View, it would mean that this postcrosser is interested in the person he is writing to… I mean, I personally always take a long time to read about the history / geography of the town where the receiver lives, and also sometimes do research about the meaning of the street. Do you believe it’s a wrong behavior? This is a real questions, I wouldn’t want people to feel bad… And why do you feel bad when you think of the possibility that someone may see what your house looks like? Is it a question of security?
Once again, I hope I am not shocking anyone with my questions, which are genuine. And thank you for creating this topic.
(by the way, I understand that putting a picture of someone’s house in an envelope may be considered as stalking, even if it wasn’t necessarly the willing of the sender)
9 Likes
I think it’s one thing to look up info about the person you’re sending postcard to, even going on google maps. First, I think sending a picture of their house can be perceived as threatening, as in “I know exactly where you live and I can come get you.” Second, this is from a man sent to a woman, which can provoke fear in the woman. Women put up with all kinds of creepy behavior from men all the time. Even if the intent was benign, this still can be interpreted as a threat. If that happened to me, I would have reported it to the police or to Postcrossing admins because for me, this is crossing a boundary.
11 Likes
I think it’s creepy or it can feel creepy, because of course I know where I live. Why would I need someone strange sending a photo of it?
It can be taken in a way “I find information about you, that you didn’t tell”. That they are showing some kind of power over me, refusing accepting only what I tell.
Here and in normal life, I think people choose what they tell, and in time share more.
Searching for more information that I give, for only a one way postcard swap, feels like they don’t respect my limits and what I want to tell. It can feel as invading to others personal space and privacy.
10 Likes
I totally u swears d that making her nervous. Sounds like a stalker looking up her address.
Thinking of stuff like that I worried when I first joined postcrossing. I didn’t want to get a PO BOX as postage and stamps are expensive enough. I ultimately decided to join Post Crossing if anything like that happened to me I would probably also quit.
1 Like
I also have look in Google street view or with Apple Maps . Where is the problem ? It’s not forbidden and I find it interesting to see the area where someone lives. Especially areas in China I find interesting to see there. Or if I can see that anyone lives on the see. I don’t care if someone knows what my street looks like.
2 Likes
A man sends a picture of YOUR house to you in the mail. Wouldn’t you find that a bit creepy? This is what happened to another postcrosser (a woman who has since quit Postcrossing because of this incident.) No, there is nothing wrong with googling someone’s property or finding it on Google Earth. Sending a picture of the house you own & live in can be perceived as threatening by the recipient even if the sender’s intent is benign. I don’t want to belabor the point. The woman postcrosser felt threatened and she quit. She gets to decide how she feels (which was threatened) and act accordingly (quit Postcrossing).
4 Likes
Okay, a photo on the card it’s not really nice.
I thought he only m wrote that he looked where she lives.
@Malocar - I am interested to know what you think the police would do in a situation like this? That doesn’t make any sense to me. The US Supreme Court has made it clear that law enforcement agencies are not required to provide protection to the citizens who are forced to pay the police for their “services.” And as a participant in Postcrossing we have decided to share our addresses. If the letter contained threats I suppose that’s a whole different situation. Someone being weird and printing a picture of an address you shared (while, yes, strange) isn’t in itself a threat ?
Also, it seems to be an important detail to you that this was a man sending to a woman (that has increased the level of interpreted threat.) What if a woman did this? A woman sending to a woman? Threatening or not? A man to a man? A woman to a man? Does that matter?
I would not like receiving that from a member - I’d report to admins because it’s not within my understanding of how addresses are meant to be used within the Postcrossing project. I expect people to write my address on a postcard that they mail to me. If people are using it to print pictures of my house and sending letters, that’s not the point of Postcrossing.
All of that being said, your Twitter acquaintance’s feelings of discomfort are valid and beyond reporting to admins and/or quitting Postcrossing I don’t see any other options for dealing with the situation.
2 Likes