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Thread: Question About Security

  1. #1
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    Question About Security

    Over the last few years, posters have "scrambled" their license tags when posting on the internet. I'm a bit naive on these issues. Can someone explain why? We are out in the public every day. And our license tags are exposed to the thousands of drivers on a daily basis. Why so much secrecy on the internet???

    Thank you for your insight.

  2. #2
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    You can get a name and address from a plate number. You do not want people to go to your house and take what you have shown in your post...it happens.

  3. #3
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    There is a federal statute called "Driver's Privacy Protection Act", which prohibits the disclosure of personal information without the express consent of the person to whom such information applies, with the exception of certain circumstances set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 2721.
    Read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver...Protection_Act

  4. #4
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    The act does make it illegal to obtain drivers' information for unlawful purpose but the list of exceptions is quite long. I have watched people get an address in seconds.

    The permissible uses for license plate owner information are:

    1. For use by any government agency
    2. For use in connection with "matters of motor vehicle or driver safety and theft"
    3. For use in the normal course of business by a legitimate business or its agents, employees, or contractors, but only to verify the accuracy of personal information and correct information
    4. For use in connection with any matter before a court or arbitration proceeding
    5. For use in research activities, and for use in producing statistical reports, so long as the personal information is not published, redisclosed, or used to contact individuals
    6. For use by insurance companies
    7. For providing notice to owners of towed vehicles
    8. For use by any licensed private investigative agency or licensed security service
    9. For use by an employer to obtain or verify information relating to a holder of a commercial driver’s license that is required under chapter 313 of title 49.
    10. For use by private toll transportation facilities
    11. For any other use in response to requests for individual motor vehicle records
    12. For the bulk distribution of surveys, marketing materials, or solicitations (opt-in only)
    13. By anyone when written consent of the individual is provided
    14. For other uses specifically authorized by state laws


    There are sites out there...
    https://www.searchquarry.com/free-li...number-lookup/
    https://thelawdictionary.org/article...plate-numbers/

  5. #5
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    However, isn’t the point of the OP that anybody can get the same info off my vehicle out in public and come to my house and steal it? I think blocking it out is just overly paranoid, but to each their own. Maybe if you post a classified and park it outside overnight, but even then it could easily be stolen just sitting there. I just assume people can find out most anything about me any time, as in the last post. Life is too short to worry about it. Just buy decent insurance and enjoy.
    Last edited by Tigershark48; 01-19-2019 at 08:50 PM.

  6. #6
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    One example, a person was posting about all the "stuff" he was purchasing for his engine build. Another person traced his plates and even stopped by his house with the excuse that he saw the car from the street and he owned a similar one. He even had a picture of the guy having a cold one while they talked about the car. He later came back and took thousands of dollars of parts and the car. The police did finally catch him and he had quite a business going stealing and selling the car/ parts using the forums as a scouting tool.

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    I am imagining that the issue is that a person might want to post about exceeding the speed limit or engaging in other such extra-legal or even reckless activity in anonymity and without fear of law enforcement, plaintiff's or insurance investigators, or others being able to positively identify them.

  8. #8
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    Thank you all for your insight. Really informative.

    So a thief from across the country could track me down if he wanted my car bad enough. But it seems like I would be at a higher risk from a local thief who sees me driving down the road. After all most of our cars are not really worth that much anyways. Maybe $5 to $12K. Some up to $20K. Its not like were driving a $150K Ferrari or or even a $100K Porsche. I will take precautions...but it does seem overly paranoid when we are exposing our cars to local thieves on a daily basis.

  9. #9
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    Overly paranoid is a subjective matter, and neither way is a guaranteed method of preventing/ensuring worst/best case scenarios, whatever they may be. I don’t think it’s worth the effort, but I’m a pessimist with bad luck - blur it, and some dick down the block will surely be behind anything bad happening; don’t blur it and some raggamuffin from Timbuktu will make the trip to my garage with precision normally not seen outside the realm of heatseaking missiles or suicidal and overweight deer on poorly lit backroads.
    '02 M Coupe, Estoril Blue on Estoril
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    ’04 VW R32, Reflex Silver/Black Cloth

  10. #10
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    I'm taking the safe route...just in case. Just seems like there's more chance of losing a car to a local thief than someone halfway across the country. Especially at our price point.

    At a $100K to $200K price point...maybe a different story.

    Thanks for the reply.

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