Why do people block out their license plates in pictures?

I was once told it was done so people couldn't find their cars and steal them. but i fail to see how knowing a person's license plate can help you find their car/living address. unless you work at the dmv or are a cop obviously and can run plates.

so whats the deal. i don't care because:
1) i park in a sealed garage everynight
2) my car isn't parked where my registration says i live
3) if i wanted to steal someone's car i'd simply follow them home from a meet/track/etc.


edit: what do you do at car shows when hundreds of photos are being snapped of your car? you know those are going on the net too more forums then you could ever find. tape off your license plate?

edit2: what about just driving around your local town/city? everyone can see it there...

 

I agree..and I don't see any people blocking their tags while driving around. If it's visible in person, whats the difference over the internet?

 

Dudes from NYC usually don't even show the whole car LOLz.

 

^^^, yeh in NYC, its a different story lol

 

Yeah I used to do it but I dont care any more.

 

yeah, i thought about that recently, and im starting not to care... simply because like you said, OP... people see it every day out in the street, so whats the difference

 

Might just be a habit given to us from the tv. Any time you see the news or some tv show they'll put that black box or blur out someone's license plate.

 

You can get peoples info with just a license plate. Some require a connection and some you have to pay money and they mail you the info. in RI atleast

 

i agree if you get a license plate number you can get all the vehicle reg info, which is alot easier than trying to follow a car home...

lets put it this way, my car was at a car show on sunday, after the show i drove 40 miles to my friends house behind a gated fence, stayed there for two hours then drove 70 miles home.... why would you follow my car when you can just get the info at the show if available?
as far as 240sx eets I dont ever go because its notorious in socal that after you go o 240 meets your car gets stolen.

I'm just lucky because the addresses my cars are registered under are 100-400 miles away from where I actually live

but seriously its not hard to get someones address etc from a license plate number so its just safer not to do it

 

Or if you know a cop they can enter it in their computer and tell you all kinds of stuff instantly. Or if you are a cop...

 

ok well then tell me EXACTLY how i can get all of their registration info, just from their license plate. i'd love to know.

Step.
By.
Step.

Every time a cop runs a license plate it's stored in a computer database. in case you didn't know that the cop does as do i. an officer showed it to me once when he was like wow your plate has been run alot(old car). no cop is going to run plates for a guy they know steals cars. there is a paper trail.

So maybe you know someone at the DMV; how long do you think it will take a car thief and his accomplis at the DMV to get busted? not long...again a paper trail.

 

Use common sense. Maybe if your car is stock-looking and you have a lot of valuable stuff on the inside/under the hood/in the trunk. Nobody would be able to differentiate your car from any other stock Maxima, but they could if they know what your license plate # is. There are definitely good reasons to not show your license plate # to people on the internet if you can help it. Most likely your vehicle's security won't be threatened by it, but better to be safe than sorry.

 

http://ezinearticles.com/?License-Pl...line&id=478904

 

dude I filed a police report once for a hit and run and i had the license number the highway patrol told me to get the info from the dmv.

all i did was walked in told them hit and run and they gave the info... probably not correct procedure but oh wellz

 

I delete mine from the pics because I feel like it...

Does it matter if someone does or does not?

 

if i believe that article basically for $400 bucks i can get alot of information from just their license plate?

neat.

thx for the info!

 

I am in the insurance business and we have ways of getting the address, registered owner and bank by the license number. If someone wants your car bad enough they will take it. Just because you park in a garage it does not mean someone that wants it won't take, the car sees the sun and the driver is not always in it.

 

the only thing i can think of is that it would be easier to target cars with expensive components.

 

my lojack and my 9mm makes me sleep well at night

speaking of which i should throw in a kill switch just for fun takes all of 10 minutes...

just idle rambling...

i will agree with you cdehdarani that if someone wants something bad enough they will take it regardless of what you do to prevent them.

edit: cdehdarani why don't you tell me what my address is, my lean holder, and name my car is registered under as you said you could do it. you know just for fun
you can find my license plate here: http://forums.maxima.org/members-rid...-new-modz.html

 

I do not know if there is a way to do it for that state, I know Texas we pull MVR, Cali we pull CVR, WA has a website... it really depends on the state though and not all of them allow the access.

 

My philosophy: Better to be safe than sorry. If I unkowningly **** someone off, who knows what they're capable of doing. I don't know them nor do I know what they are capable of. The 2 seconds it takes to distort the license is worth the reassurance it gives me.

 

i seriously cant believe this ques. is being asked, its like asking why do u close the door to the stall in a public restroom when ur taking a sh*t, its called privacy

 

would you post pictures of you standing next to your giant screen tv and stereo system while holding a sign with your mailing address in large bold print?.

common sense says no

 

awesome thread

 

have u been made an honest woman yet?

back on topic: my plate is pretty distinctive (vanity plate), but there's nothing terribly valuable on/in my car, so at this point, i don't really care about displaying it in pix.

 

I used to not do it, then I just hopped on the bandwagon.

GO CHRIS go!

 

check it out

 

going to sooner's place just to gank his beloved A33 emblem

 

sweetz! i can haz all urz info?!?!

 

Too many creepy stalkers out there (in here)...

 

ask me if i care:



(great, u can hardly see the valuable GT-R badge!!! )

 

Something makes me think that police officers aren't stealing cars based on license plates they find in pictures on the internet


So I guess you never drive your car and keep it inside a garage at ALL times, so nobody violates your privacy by looking at your plate?


And as to the pics: if someone at a 240 meet wants to steal your car by getting your DMV info or whatever, couldn't they just wait until you LEAVE the meet (and put the plate back on) and THEN write it down?


You all are some paranoid fools.....


I guess you all never go to bars either, since the bartender or bouncer could be checking your ID for your address, so they can go steal your kewl watch or air jordans

 

damn straight! that's why i went gray early in life so i don't have to get carded...

 

I know people here were talking about covering there tags so the speed camera's and the red light camera's can't take the pictures.

 

It honestly doesnt matter. If someone wants your car bad enough, about the only thing that will stop them, is someone in the vehicle with a large weapon. Ive seen cars with imobilizers stolen..easy flat bed, tow truck, if they want it they'll get it. Why would they go to that extent to steal a maxima? I dont know if they would, especially here theres not enough of a market for maxima parts to make sense to go out and steal one to sell for parts.

I know a few people, if i were to get your plate number, i can find out pretty much everything about the registered owner of the vehicle, including cell phone numbers, addresses, etc. There is paper trail though, so its not totally avoidable.

 

If someone wants something badly enough they'll get it, but you can make it more difficult for them.

 

which cycles back to the "if someone wants something badly enough, they'll get it" part.


I used to block my plate, but I stopped because it's only a maxima. I have no expensive mods and my car value is not high at all. And if they try to take my car, I'll be sure to hear it when my maxie gets turned on and purr. I wish they would even consider maxima, so I can get a 5sp.

 

This thread makes me want to install a fuel pump cutoff switch

Yeah people will see your license plate no matter what. But when you're providing info about your car and expensive mods for internet validation your ish is that much less likely to get stolen/broken into if you don't give the entire internet your license plate number.

Also people have been known to discuss illegal automotive activity on the internets, and might be concerned with anonymity.

 

 

I thought this was common sense.... apparently not for some...

Thugs/thiefs will think to themselves, "Hey I live in the same town as XYZ, and now I know that when I see that Maxima with license plate XYZ, he's got a ton of goodies (ie expensive quality stereo equipment in the trunk etc) that I wouldn't have know about otherwise and can now try and steal it."

The chances of this happening may be small, but why take the chance and increase your odds of getting your stuff stolen that you worked so hard for?