Several reasons: I prefer to have all observations made at the same location actually show up on the same place on the map, particularly when I’m often observing the same individual or multiple generations of the same population. I do link the observations in the notes, but it would bother me to have the pins for related observations scattered all across the obscuration box.
Another consideration relates to the fact that the majority of my observations are made within a longish walking distance of my residence. So it is likely that one could draw certain conclusions anyway about the general area where I live and what my habits are based on my other observations. Obscuring just observations made at my residence in a sense feels like it would call more attention to what is being obscured. Given that, possibly I should be obscuring everything, but using a pin with a largish accuracy radius not centered on my residence is a balance between practicality/usability and privacy that I am more-or-less comfortable with.
In the individual observations one sees a map with a circle encompassing the neighborhood and in some cases there may be a comment or other indication that the observation was made where I live (inclusion in a project, etc.). But it isn’t the focus of attention on the page.
I’m less happy with the way the prominently placed map on the project page directs attention specifically to a single spot and essentially says look, this is where I live. Not: these are the organisms interacting with a particular small-scale biotope.
Edit: I don’t actually have to justify not obscuring, do I? Given the frequency of comments about how obscuring makes observations less usable for researchers etc., it seems to me that there are lots of reasons why users might prefer to use other methods to obscure the exact location of an observation.
My balcony project was the first project I created and it wasn’t clear to me at that point that the map was not optional. I was aware that there were at least a couple different layouts for project pages and that it was possible to define a location limiting what observations were eligible for inclusion. So I assumed that projects had maps because the project creators wanted one.
Had I been more familiar with the way project pages are set up, I probably would not have created one for my balcony and I would have continued to use an observation field to mark the site instead. The only reason I haven’t deleted the project is because none of the other available options (tags, observation fields) are anywhere near as convenient for grouping and viewing observations.
Given the option, I would remove the leaderboard, too, as it happens. For a personal project with only one member – by intent – a leaderboard is essentially meaningless and a waste of space on the page.
So again, I see multiple use cases for wanting to customize what modules are included on project pages.