I'm not sure why some folks feel the need to obscure their license plates on these forums (do you drive down the street with them obscured?), but if you're going to do it....
License Plates
- Thread starter kwill
- Start date
Influencer III
- 4,312
- First Name
- Rex
- Last Name
- Drake
- Member #
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19540
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- KI5GH
- Service Branch
- Air Force
Member III
Yep.
And even with whatever has been done for protection since then, there is enough corruption among those who still have the authority to access that data that it makes sense to not advertise what you don't have to.
Advocate III
.I'm not sure why some folks feel the need to obscure their license plates on these forums (do you drive down the street with them obscured?), but if you're going to do it....
Obscuring one's plates in images online makes much more sense than when driving down the street, simply because of the sheer number of potential viewers that may have nefarious intentions. Not everyone who sees your photos online has your best intentions in mind. It's also then online forever, not just in view 'til you turn a corner. The difference in number of people who see it online or may pay attention to it on the street is astronomical.
You can get a lot of info from someone's plates, like owner info, vehicle info, public records, etc. Like on places like this: Plate Records Finder. If I could find this site in a 10 second search, you can bet others, who may have bad intention, can too. Even if you don't find the info you want in a records finder site, those who want it bad enough often know someone who can access that info, just from your plate number.
Get the owner's name, then address, and you know where they and the vehicle live. It's part of how thieves know where expensive vehicles and gear are likely to be, and how everything from RTTs to whole vehicles are often stolen.
If the plates show in a recent social media post while traveling, then both wannabe bad guys and professional thieves know the owner is likely not home.
I know a family in Maine who had a popular clothing store before the days of internet. The owner and his wife went to FL, leaving the son in charge. The son posted an ad saying "While Mom and Pop are out of town we're having a big sale!" When the parents got back they found their home had been ransacked; emptied of valuable silver, electronics, all sorts of stuff. No one even knew for the weeks they were gone. The thieves had been alerted by the ad the home was likely empty.
Same thing, and more, can happen with info gained from plates. I've seen locals come through national parks taking photos of plates of big RVs and expensive looking rigs, and cruise parking lots of hotels checking out rigs and plates. Whenever I have someone come in camp who wants to take photos of my set up, I tell them sure, but no photos of my plates, or I put something over my plates.
It makes sense, really.
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