Blurring or Covering License Plates in Pics

KrisZ said:
Too many crazies on the internet, that's why. It doesn't even compare to being on the road in public.
Click to expand...
But what specifically will anyone crazy here do with this information? Find my address and come over? For what purpose? How does this differ from crazy people every day on the road copying down your plate or just following you home? So many have dash cameras that are recording your vehicle everyday. I guess if anyone sees this now they will say "Hey that's TiGeo from BITOG!"?

1000022772.jpg
 
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I'll chime in,
Some people like to capture VIN numbers. They can do a search on them to see the history of the vehicle.
I personally cover up my windshield VIN number.
A Leo, would have access to view your profile from your license plate.
Not having a license plate on the front and rear in California will eventually get you an equipment violation ticket.
Covering up your license plate with tinted plastic shielding will eventually get you an equipment violation ticket.

I suppose other states are more LAX on that but here in California you can bet you will help the revenue of this mismanaged state.
 
mikeduf said:
I'll chime in,
Some people like to capture VIN numbers. They can do a search on them to see the history of the vehicle.
Click to expand...
Again, so what? What nefarious purpose is served by this? Every car listed for sale by a dealer online will have the VIN listed.

Front plate would have helped my wife's cousin ID the drunk driver that ran into their restaurant caught on camera but no front plate so no ID. I don't get no front plates, most of the world has them.
 
TiGeo said:
But what specifically will anyone crazy here do with this information? Find my address and come over? For what purpose? How does this differ from crazy people every day on the road copying down your plate or just following you home? So many have dash cameras that are recording your vehicle everyday. I guess if anyone sees this now they will say "Hey that's TiGeo from BITOG!"?
Click to expand...

I'm not necessarily worried about BITOG members, but this site is open to everyone to browse freely.
And my specific area of concern is identity theft, which requires making some sort of profile of a person. Posting pictures of nice cars is a pretty good indicator of someone's income and net worth. So it may put you on a map of some oversea entity, yes there are groups and companies specializing in this now, not just individuals.

Also, I just checked and the pictures hosted on BITOG seem to be scrubbed of the metadata, except for the basics like resolution etc. But before BITOG was upgraded to host media, you had to use a third party hosting site and those could have the metadata saved, of which location is the most critical one. Not sure if that's an issue these days though.

I will grant that BITOG is but a spec of dust when compared to the likes of Facebook, Snapchat, twitter etc. but it still gets decent traffic.
 
KrisZ said:
I'm not necessarily worried about BITOG members, but this site is open to everyone to browse freely.
And my specific area of concern is identity theft, which requires making some sort of profile of a person. Posting pictures of nice cars is a pretty good indicator of someone's income and net worth. So it may put you on a map of some oversea entity, yes there are groups and companies specializing in this now, not just individuals.

Also, I just checked and the pictures hosted on BITOG seem to be scrubbed of the metadata, except for the basics like resolution etc. But before BITOG was upgraded to host media, you had to use a third party hosting site and those could have the metadata saved, of which location is the most critical one. Not sure if that's an issue these days though.

I will grant that BITOG is but a spec of dust when compared to the likes of Facebook, Snapchat, twitter etc. but it still gets decent traffic.
Click to expand...
How would anyone steel my identity with my license plate? Why go through this much trouble when you can just walk into any parking lot and get this info from '00s of vehicles? Why would anyone spend this much time to piece together someone to target when they can do this a variety of easier ways?
 
TiGeo said:
How would anyone steel my identity with my license plate? Why go through this much trouble when you can just walk into any parking lot and get this info from '00s of vehicles? Why would anyone spend this much time to piece together someone to target when they can do this a variety of easier ways?
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Because most of thee people/companies are overseas.
 
KrisZ said:
Because most of thee people/companies are overseas.
Click to expand...
For the amount of times my CC gets stolen from online purchases I'd say they have much better and less complicated ways to make money in 2024. So what if they are overseas? So they troll forums (they will use other social media...FB/IG/etc.) to find pics of cars to then go through the arduous task of making an ID for me based that info alone?
 
TiGeo said:
For the amount of times my CC gets stolen from online purchases I'd say they have much better and less complicated ways to make money in 2024. So what if they are overseas? So they troll forums (they will use other social media...FB/IG/etc.) to find pics of cars to then go through the arduous task of making an ID for me based that info alone?
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My intention is not to convince you or anyone else in this thread. I like to minimize my exposure for the reasons I stated earlier, even if the possibility is quite minimal.

Call it paranoid or irrational, but thus far I have never, knock on wood, had my CC info stolen, I get very minimal amount of spam calls and I don't get any spam/phishing emails. Perhaps my approach does make a difference, 🤷‍♂️
 
Most of my motorcycles have handicap plates and I've seen several people photograph them, maybe they don't believe they are real or something else? I haven't had any strange visitors at my door or anything else since I have been running them.
PXL_20221229_165501862 (1).webp
 
1foxracing said:
Most of my motorcycles have handicap plates and I've seen several people photograph them, maybe they don't believe they are real or something else?
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They are probably confused because they think handicapped means the person must be in a wheelchair or something and if they are, how could they possibly ride a motorcycle.
 
In my area I would guess at least 90% of vehicles with either handicap plates or placards are from people who are not actively using a wheelchair just like myself.
 
I imagine if you are someone famous or with money, it may be worthwhile for some criminals to start gathering all the data they can on you. With more advanced AI perhaps this is automatable soon?
I would think most of us don't really have anything to worry about, but maybe for something like a fake distress phone call from your grandkid, having the plate #, vehicle details, and location is a going to help convince a few more people they need to wire $5k or whatever....
A pic with a license plate can give your vehicles location geographic and presumably you, at a certain time. More than few bikes have been stolen from people publicly posting their rides that start and finish at their house and the $6-8-10-12k bike on strava, and the thieves can cruise by and see if you left the garage open while you go in for a drink after your regular Saturday morning ride....
 
1foxracing said:
In my area I would guess at least 90% of vehicles with either handicap plates or placards are from people who are not actively using a wheelchair just like myself.
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I understand - a lot of people don't though. My Mom has a placard due to heart conditions and she'll park in a handicap spot and walk just fine (or at her pace) into a store. I'm sure some people question it. She even tells me to park in those spots when I'm driving her and it's a legitimate reason 'cause she still has to walk. I won't do it though, so I drop her off at the door, park in a regular spot, and catch up inside.
 
Look at Google Street View and look for unobscured license plates. Do you find any? I guess Google got tired of complaints. My wife-cheating coworker always parks outside his other house where his girlfriend lives. He no longer has to smear mud on his tags.
 
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IMO, There is no point in it, except to make yourself feel better. The license plate (publicly visible registration number) is required to drive on the public roads.

We have companies in town (towing companies) that use ALPR to see what vehicles need towing. They just drive all around parking lots and drag out cars that have "tow" orders and carry them to impound lots.

Automatic number-plate recognition​

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_number-plate_recognition

So if hiding your information online makes you feel better, why not. But IMO, it's just a waste of time. YMMV
 
California has two laws that make intentionally or knowingly tampering with a vehicle identification number (VIN) a crime: Vehicle Code § 10750 VC and Vehicle Code § 10802

From an attorney-
Posted on Nov 27, 2014
It is illegal to alter or remove the VIN number from the windshield. The police will find this to be suspicious.

ChicagoTribune-
A. Master Sgt. Lincoln Hampton, Illinois State Police spokesman, said it’s illegal to “conceal or misrepresent the identification of a vehicle,” which means it’s illegal to cover or remove the vehicle identification number.
 
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