Robert_Charlton - 6:50 am on Jul 23, 2012 (gmt 0)

Google will surely get a lot of requests for the unblurred versions by various agencies.

I don't think that Google wants to get in the middle of these requests, as Yahoo, eg, did with certain search info in China... and for that reason and others, Google appears to be taking some extra protective steps, mentioned in the blog post, worth noting...

Face blurring: when footage requires anonymity
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
[youtube-global.blogspot.co.uk...]

My emphasis added...

Before you publish, you will see a preview of what your video will look like with faces blurred. When you save the changes to your video, a new copy is created with the blurred faces. You will then be given the option to delete the original video.

Additional evidence of Google's awareness about these issues...

Visual anonymity in video allows people to share personal footage more widely and to speak out when they otherwise may not. Because human rights footage, in particular, opens up new risks to the people posting videos and to those filmed, it’s important to keep in mind other ways to protect yourself and the people in your videos [googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com]....

The link goes to Google Public Policy Blog, also from July 18....

Protecting yourself and others in YouTube videos [googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com] ...Today, we announced a new face blurring tool that represents a first step toward providing visual anonymity in video. Of course, anonymity is never a guarantee, and people who capture sensitive video footage should consider taking other precautions to keep themselves and their subjects safe. Here are three suggestions....

Google then lists other factors of vulnerability and risk assessment.

They even point out that...

In certain countries, merely purchasing a sim card puts users at risk of tracking by government.

Perhaps worth rereading the two posts and getting a sense of where they're coming from.