Why would you block out your plate?

In some cases it pays to advertise and in some cases it does not. I block out my plate in photos or shows (or use an unregistered YOM plate) to avoid the situation that someone might see the car and come shopping late at night. Despite all the privacy laws if you know the right people you can get an address from a license plate. The fewer number of people that know what I have in my garage the better. Just one more type of insurance.

Charlie Stephens

 

I know of four NICE cars locally that were stolen from the address they were registered at while they were up for sale - with their license plates visible.

Do whatever you feel comfortable with.

 

My prerogative.

Nuff said.

 

Well, one fortunate thing about being into Studebaker trucks, especially the 3/4-1ton ones , is not many people:

a. want to steal them
b. could figure out how to drive them
c. get very far very fast
d. sell them or parts easily without me probably being able to figure it out one way or another

So, yeah, I can now see blocking out your plates in classifieds or net photos, but reality is for me anyway, fortunately or unfortunately, that won't cut my chances of losing one due to theft that much even if I did. But, if you have more desirable stuff, I guess maybe not a bad idea if it could be traced to an address where it might be easily taken because of the tag number.

 

I remember reading about a guy whos insurance company busted him by license plate number because *he was racing the car at the dragstrip*.
They raised his rates!
This was an article in a hotrod magazine
The article suggested taking the plates off at the dragstrip

 

I whup it out to take a leak in public bathrooms, but don't want or have pics of it all over the net. Same thing.....

 

Yes, people can see your plate o the street. The difference is that your car is one among millions, and the only people who can see it are thos that are, well, there to see it.

On the web, data are forever. It is accessible by anyone, anyplace. Millions of people can see your plate and it only takes one with nefarious intent to ruin your day.

It's all about risk assessment. Do you feel the risk to you, your family and your possessions low if you publish your tag number on the open internet? If yes, go for it. If not, then don't.

Another way to think about it: if you were walking down the street with your fly open, probably not too many people would see it and it would not be likely to have any effect on your life. Post a Facebook picture of yourself with your fly open, and it is possible that something could come of it -- like, when a potential employer is checking you out.

 

Man, I'm getting paranoid, no seriously! I just checked my fly. I guess I can't go and take back any images that were ever posted on the internetz. I'm scared. Thanks for scaring me straight. I'll never post my license again never!

 

When the whole world is out to get you -
Being paranoid is simply planning ahead.

-Dr. Johnny Fever W.K.R.P.


.

 

That's some funny stuff right there.

 

Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean the men in black aren't out to get me.

 

Im not Paranoid, I just dont trust the govt. Can you say WMD,Gulf of Tonkin incident,On & on.........

 

I look at it this way...



I wouldn't say I'm paranoid....I just don't trust people in general.

 

ROTFL. I, and possibly the rest of the HAMB, thank you for keeping your fly closed.

Seriously though, you can't take back images you post. Systems get cached, data backed up, and spiders crawl that post copies on their own servers. Someone might have a copy before you get it down. The point is that once you hit the 'enter' key and the data goes out onto the internet all bets are off. So even if you post something and take it down, there is a chance that someone else already has it, and the longer it is up the more likely that is to occur.

It's not about paranoia. It's just the way things work.

 

In RI we have reflective plates & if you take a flash pic at nite it blocks it automatically. I did notice that alot of cars shown on web sites for shows, etc block plates & also mag spreads usually put a cardboard plate over the orginal that says rod & custom or whatever.
I did notice when checking porn that thay block out some faces & tattoos, think they got that from car sites?? LOLOLOLOL

 

Now THAT's some funny shit! S'cuse me while I tighten up my tinfoil hat.

 

Not paranoid. Smart. Cautious.

Do you have a sign in the window of your pad, telling all that the extra cash and important papers are in the second drawer on the left?

Do you take all the greenbacks out of your wallet and pin them to your shirt when out and about, just asking for someone to grab?

Posting personal identity markers together, where the information is permanent, makes it possible for anybody to compile a profile on you, then with just one more item of information, they can ruin your credit, as minimum, and worse. If your license plate is posted on the hamb, you are advertising it to a million more people than when you drive it around your town. Countless crooks cruise, to use a traditional term , or (surf) if you prefer, the internet, viewing the hamb as 'guests' looking for ways to advance their criminal activity. That's how they make their living.

With all of the other things they can find out about you, if they decide to use that information they can. With a picture of your license plate, they can proceed to run down the rest of your identity and select yours as their next adventure.

Why invite that?

Photographs displayed in a public forum are an invitation to the dasterdly to do their dasterdly deeds.

A most likely scenario; Somebody decides he's going to get a high dollar 'rod, for whatever his motivation. He cruises the 'net, finds hamb, finds some cars he likes, makes a list, decides that he'll steal one. He lives in timbucktooville. He goes to the public profiles and all the posts and compiles a profile, knows general habits just by reading the car owner's posts, and ends up with a license number. Then he can start a process to narrow the owner down to his addy, buy a plane ticket to that town and whilst the owner is out of the house he can get the car and begin the long drive back home.

 

I have a police scanner in my vehicles. When they call in on your plate in arkansas. The dispatcher tells who is the resistered owner, his residence address, the name of the insurance co. the owners traffic record and if he has a concealed weapons permit. If the officer asks they also can give a vin number and the leinholder info. All in about Two minutes time. I for one dont like it. I used to run the same plate on several cars. Usually on whichever was running at the time. OldWolf

 

Well, now you've done it, I'm only wearing sweatpants from now on...

 

So you guys know, you CAN get the VIN from just the plate if you have access to the state impound system. Being that the shop I work at is also a state impound lot, I see it all the time when entering tow tickets. Type in plate, get name/address/vin of reg owner in about 30sec.

Still not any different in pics than seeing it going down the road though.