‘Udder’ Nonsense! Google Street View Blurs Cow’s Face for Privacy

“Our automatic face-blurring technology has been a little overzealous”, a spokesperson from Google said.

Google Street View blurred the face of a cow and it turned out to be a hit on the social media.

The animal was spotted by Google’s cameras at Coe Fen, Cambridge and seemed to have received the same treatment humans receive for privacy reasons.

It was first highlighted by in a tweet by The Guardian’s David Shariatmadari and it got retweeted more than 10,000 times. The post has also been liked more than 14,000 times.

Great to see Google takes cow privacy seriously pic.twitter.com/ACTBpDwno6

— David Shariatmadari (@D_Shariatmadari) September 13, 2016

We thought you were pulling the udder one when we herd the moos, but it’s clear that our automatic face-blurring technology has been a little overzealous. Of course, we don’t begrudge this cow milking its five minutes of fame.

Google Spokesperson

One can see the animal’s face clearly when it is at a distance but Google seems to have blurred it for a close-up view.

Some other Twitter users took this chance to troll Google Street View and the puns kept rolling.

@D_Shariatmadari was she asked mooove out of the way or was the pic taken on the hoof?

— Dave smith (@Powys_power_gat) September 13, 2016

@D_Shariatmadari @jazmasta Cows should dress more modestly so they don't have to have their faces blurred in shame. pic.twitter.com/dBkfvpVprR

— Rev. Howard Furst (@revhowardfurst) September 13, 2016

@D_Shariatmadari Anonymoos?

— Jacques Maree (@JacquesMaree73) September 13, 2016

@D_Shariatmadari @jonworth Some people think one cow looks much like any udder. Not so!

— Tim Bale (@ProfTimBale) September 13, 2016

Google’s Street View was launched in 2007 and received widespread media coverage as cars mounted with cameras mapped streets around the world. To help combat privacy concerns, the software automatically blurs human faces.

(Source: The Guardian)