apple tim cook billie eilish
5 months ago
Published January 26, 2022 by

What Tim Cook and Billie Eilish have in common

Their homes have been digitally hidden from view to protect them from stalkers.

From Killian Bell’s “Apple Maps erects gigantic digital wall to hide Tim Cook’s house” posted Wednesday on CultofMac:

Apple fans who take a virtual stroll through Palo Alto inside Apple Maps and Google Maps no longer get to see Tim Cook’s house. The modern, four-bedroom condo has had a giant digital wall erected right in front of it.

We spotted the change after Apple was on Friday granted a temporary restraining order against an alleged stalker, who claimed to be Cook’s wife, threatened the Apple boss and was caught trespassing on his property.

It’s not uncommon to see certain things blurred out inside Apple Maps and Google Maps. Both services conceal things like faces and license plates. However, it is rare to see entire buildings hidden behind big, blurry walls…

Google took similar steps to blur out Billie Eilish’s primary residence in Los Angeles last year when she, too, was granted a temporary restraining order against a man who repeatedly showed up at her home.

My take: I’ve seen people calling the new stalker “Tim Cook’s wife.” That’s funny until it isn’t.

See also: Please keep Tim Cook safe!

3 Comments

  1. Thomas Williams said:
    Nah, it’s not unusual to see entire buildings blurred out along with secret drone airports or mines in the desert. While conducting research I travel somewhere virtually in Google Maps or another tool every day. Just yesterday I was strolling around a stadium in Yaoundé, Cameroon trying to make sense of the stampede there that cut 7 lives short during an AFCON match. 16 more trampled in a nightclub nearby. Blurred buildings are common in wealthy neighborhoods, favelas don’t even have all the faces blurred out.
    In the so-called metaverse (AKA MMORPGs & Second Life, right now) cloaks, walls and blanks hide those that do not want their avatars to be seen by others virtually. Odd when you consider they pay to be seen playing but then pay to be hidden.

    4
    January 26, 2022
  2. Jerry Doyle said:
    For a modest and understated individual who values and treasures his personal privacy I suspect this behavioral craziness from such an ostentatious and erratic individual is most unsettling to Tim Cook. Many folk reading of this person’s infatuation over Mr. Cook may fail to understand fully how such passionate and obsessive behavior by someone deemed extremist and radical in their actions can affect Mr. Cook’s concentration in carrying out his duties for Apple at the highest levels of efficacy. Apple’s governing board and local authorities need to respond posthaste, by moving in and taking away this continuing menace and potential imminent threat to Mr. Cook’s personal safety. As a shareholder, I want action taken.

    4
    January 26, 2022
  3. Ken Cheng said:
    This is that weird moment when you feel like gluing an AirTag to the stalker, so you know where they are at all times.

    4
    January 26, 2022

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