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Hiding the LP...Why?

3K views 29 replies 19 participants last post by  Colo.Frontier 
#1 · (Edited)
I have seen people post pictures of their vehicles on the internet for many years, and they always cover or blur their license plate
why?
when you drive ANYWHERE in public, it is on full display for anyone to see
and if you are driving a stolen vehicle and don't want it tracked then why post it at all?

I don't get it, possibly someone can help me with this
because other than paranoia (and are not being realistic) I can't understand why
but maybe I am missing something ::wink::
 
#4 ·
I see people cover their plates at car shows but uncovered when they arrive and leave so it's pointless to do.
As for your movie question I just saw Dirty Harry this morning so I'll go with that one.

Clint
 
#5 ·
I have see people post pictures of their vehicles on the internet for many years, and they always cover or blur their license plate
why?
when you drive ANYWHERE in public, it is on full display for anyone to see
and if you are driving a stolen vehicle and don't want it tracked then why post it at all?

I don't get it, possibly someone can help me with this
because other than paranoia (and a lack of common sense) I can't understand why
but maybe I am missing something ::wink::
I get your point but somebody who is uptight on security like me does not want to be a victim of identity theft. A license plate number is not just a random number, but rather a way of identification. A license plate number identifies who the owner of the vehicle is. If I got a hold of your plate number and searched it up online, I could find out who you are illegally. this is why people hide their plate number.
 
#6 ·
I have seen people post pictures of their vehicles on the internet for many years, and they always cover or blur their license plate
why?
when you drive ANYWHERE in public, it is on full display for anyone to see
and if you are driving a stolen vehicle and don't want it tracked then why post it at all?

I don't get it, possibly someone can help me with this
because other than paranoia (and a lack of common sense) I can't understand why
but maybe I am missing something ::wink::
So, someone who covers their license plate for an internet posted photo lacks common sense? ::wink::

Will say this phenomenon comes down to personal preferences. Some enjoy overt transparency...some don't.
 
#7 · (Edited)
I didn't mean they are stupid

I meant they are NOT being realistic
ever place you drive on a public street it has to be exposed
so how are you being covert?

so let me change that, poor choice of words on my part
 
#12 ·
I used the term "overt transparency"...not covert. Great community here...enjoy, read & learn.
 
#8 ·
Well, you never know who you're dealing with online. A few years ago a buddy of mine got into a headed debate on a forum with a guy who was either a cop or ex-cop. Anyways, the guy dug around my friend's YouTube videos and found one with his car that showed his license plate. The dude ran the plate and started bringing up personal information in his attacks. The mods were contacted plus another cop that was a member of the forum reached out to the guy and I guess he told him that doing things like that were a big no-no.

Might be extreme, but yea... it was a little worrying.
 
#9 ·
Which is why you only write things that you'd say in front of your wife, daughter, mother or sister and all will always be right in your world.
Once people get brave and have "beer muscles" they get into trouble and things go south from there.
I come here to help some and learn from others so it's all good.


Clint
 
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#26 ·
Can always count on you for good solid input and friendly conversation...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T337A using Tapatalk
 
#14 ·
Agreed. Never understood it. If i really wanted to get info on you I could, easily, without your license plate. Your on the internet.
 
#15 ·
It's just one of those automotive things that people accept without thinking about it. Everyone else is doing it, it must be right. Like $20 per quart motor oil must be better than $5 per quart motor oil.

I do have a question, though. If someone steals your identity, then who are you (since you no longer have your identity)? Do you become someone new? Of course not, since your identity hasn't really been stolen.

Is there anything else that can be stolen, and yet you still have it?

Vic
 
#16 ·
I'll play devil's advocate. (and yes, I am wearing my tinfoil hat)

Researching things for my truck, I've Google Image searched various Nissan Frontier items and topics. More than once I've had Jen's truck come up, Mine came up once and I've had other member's trucks pop up. So.... add in a plate number and someone who likes the parts on your truck can do a simple plate # search and know what you have in your garage and where said garage is.
 
#20 ·
I don't get it either. I never cover mine when I post photos of my truck. If you want my plate number, well it's public information so go ahead and take it. I wonder if people cover their plates when they park in their driveway...

To each their own though.
 
#21 ·
My license plate number can be cross referenced directly to my physical address. The IP address I access this forum from... not so much. Not that it can't be done, but you will need help from my ISP and they tend not to share.

Part of the protection comes from having disjointed information on the net... Putting a list of things you have done (and/or bought) for your truck and a quick way to find your address makes it easy. If you keep the information disconnected, it is still out there and can be reconnected, but it takes a bit more work.

It only takes a second to blur the plate and helps a little. I tend not to worry about it. If someone shows up for nefarious purposes, they may get a quick introduction to some of my other hobbies...
 
#22 ·
#23 ·
In my case... Yes...

I am an amateur radio operator. Having my callsign on my plate exempts me from the state laws against having scanners in my vehicle as well many hands-free requirements for communications equipment. A search for my callsign at the FCC delivers my address.
 
#30 ·
There are ways around anything. That said, when possible, I will take precautions. Few years back, a fellow Dodge owner had his truck stolen and stripped while parked at the airport. He had all kinds of posts of his truck on a couple of message boards, close to $25,000 in his build with a very nicely tuned 360, including showing his plates. When he commented that he was heading out of town on vacation, no one gave a thought to it.

Now, you can say vehicles get stolen all the time, true, but in addition to his alarm system, he had dual fuel cutoff switches that unless you perused the message boards, you would not have known where the switches were located. The truck was recovered because the one thing he never posted was that he had Lojack on the truck. When he got back in town and found the truck gone, he called the cops, they did their magic. Sadly, they were too late, when the truck was found, it was sitting on blocks in an alley, stripped. Whoever stole it, knew the kind of alarm(s) he had on it, and how to bypass them in order to hot wire and steal the truck.


@geekmyride's comment, I too have a HAM license, I don't post my call sign on my vehicle as it's easily traced.
 
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