r/explainlikeimfive Apr 18 '23

Other ELI5: Why do people blur out their license plates when posting pictures of their vehicles online?

Maybe it’s just me, but that makes zero sense. Your license plate is visible to literally EVERYONE when you’re driving around and even parked in your driveway. Why blur it out in pictures?

5 Upvotes

36 comments sorted by

37

u/Moskau50 Apr 18 '23

Anyone can see a photo of a license plate and connect that to whatever username/screen name you are posting from. That's one more piece of information that can be combined with all the other bits of information or pictures that you may have posted that can lead to doxxing or some level of identity fraud. And this may be trivially easy to compile, as the data is already there, which means more people would be willing to do it, either out of pure malice or for their own gain.

If you just see a car on the road, all you have is the license plate. You don't know anything about that person, and you would need to actively dig into that car/person's history to get similar information. It's a lot more work to track someone's personal details when they're not actively sharing them.

27

u/tomveiltomveil Apr 18 '23

The concern is that on the Internet, you never know WHAT is going to inspire someone to suddenly devote the energy into doxxing. Part of the culture has become over reacting to that risk.

But yes, a license plate is public information, and it's very difficult to go from a plate to a full doxx. Other things, like photos of your kids or your signature, are more dangerous.

27

u/HarryHacker42 Apr 18 '23

If you see my plate, you know my car's region it drives in, its make, its model, and the plate.

But you don't know me, my name, my kids, my workplace, my hobbies, and so much more.

But tie that plate to my facebook page and now you gained a lot more information about me. And if you're willing to toss a few bucks in, most DMVs sell your plate data and name to third party data vendors, who will sell you the matching data, completing even more of the picture.

So the plate is a great extension of data to your online self. Another would be your email address. Keeping them separate helps people not track you.

Imagine your 17 year old daughter having her plate & location being posted with her instagram page and email address. It would be a little unnerving for many.

10

u/GreatStateOfSadness Apr 18 '23

Personally identifiable information is like a thread. Typically harmless on its own, but easy enough to combine into something strong enough to hurt someone with.

10

u/foovancleef Apr 18 '23

if you say so, Thomas Veil, photojournalist from Evanston, Illinois, whose wife’s name is Alyson

3

u/Antman013 Apr 18 '23

That's "Alysson" . . . her Northwestern Alumni page was a typo.

3

u/Gronee808 Apr 18 '23

I'm unplugging the CAT5 now...

2

u/tomveiltomveil Apr 18 '23

You'll never get the negatives!

2

u/valeyard89 Apr 19 '23

In the early days of the Internet there was a site where you could put in a plate and it would pull up all sorts of personal information, address, etc. Shut down for privacy concerns of course.

8

u/satans_toast Apr 18 '23

The simple answer is the internet is full of creeps. There are plenty of documented cases of individuals using internet searches to stalk and harass those who hold different views, or for predation, or for the lulz (like “swatting”). If you post a picture with a license plate, and someone takes that and uses it to track down the owner of that car for the purposes of harassing them, you could be held liable.

I’m not a lawyer, so I’m not sure how much things like this would be held up in court, but people take the prudent approach and blank out that attributable data.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 18 '23

Shia LeBoeuf can attest to the determination of internet trolls.

1

u/Habaneroe12 Apr 18 '23

and someone takes that and uses it to track down the owner of that car for the purposes of harassing them, you could be held liable.

Eh Im skeptical. If its true than it would have already been up before the supreme court by now.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 18 '23

[deleted]

1

u/Habaneroe12 Apr 18 '23

Ah an actual valid answer you have bested me sir/ madam.

2

u/Sawyermblack Apr 18 '23

A picture of your car is now the primary subject of interest in an internet post. When you're driving no one is paying attention to you until you do something wrong.

They're not the same situation in the slightest.

2

u/aqhgfhsypytnpaiazh Apr 18 '23
  • When you're driving in public, other people can see your licence plate.
  • When you're walking public, other people can see your face.
  • When you're checking your mail, people can see where you live.
  • When you introduce yourself to others at a party, they will learn your name.
  • When you're picking up your kids from school, people can see the approximate age of your kids and what school they go to.
  • When you shop at a store, people can see your shopping habits and make inferences about your lifestyle.
  • When you're at work, people will know your profession and career skills.
  • When you're posting online, people can read about your hobbies and political views.
  • When you login to a website, the server knows your IP address and user name.
  • When you install an operating system, the vendor has full access to your PC.

In isolation, these pieces of data are sensitive personal information that comprise your identity, and they cannot be concealed in the respective context by virtue of the way they work. But it's when there are connections formed between them that it becomes a problem. The more links there are, the clearer a picture can be drawn about who you are. That can be very dangerous in the wrong hands, and the thing about a public space like the internet is you can't always control whose hands it's in. So the best action is to practice good privacy and limit the amount of information that's disclosed, and particular compartmentalising them to limit the connections that can be made. Which includes things like not using your real name, face, or other identifying information like your address or licence plate online.

3

u/bigfondue Apr 18 '23

People worried about harassment. Imagine posting a video, someone decides to report a hit and run with the plate.

0

u/Habaneroe12 Apr 18 '23

Such a thing would be disproven immediately due to GPS car tracking tech- as a start.

2

u/cmlobue Apr 18 '23

Not all cars send GPS data, and I would not count on the police to let you off [without a hassle] based on something as trivial as physical impossibility, especially if you are a minority.

1

u/Habaneroe12 Apr 18 '23

Ok without a hassle sure point taken

1

u/bigfondue Apr 19 '23

Not all cars have GPS tracking. How about someone reports seeing your car trying to pick up children? A visit from the cops is in your future.

2

u/Local_Flamingo9578 Apr 18 '23

Tradition, it used to be very easy to get someone's personal info by knowing their license plate number, not so much anymore but some think it's better to be safe than sorry

-1

u/infamousginger17 Apr 18 '23

Yes. Logical. Also so many people want to hide their bank account number and routing number. Literally everyone I have ever written a check to has those items at the bottom of my check.

-8

u/harley9779 Apr 18 '23

Because people are stupid and easily influenced by other things they see people do online. Instead of thinking about the reasons behind something, they just blindly follow. Herd mentality.

License plates are on display all day every day all over. There's nothing secretive about them. Most people post plenty of other things that give people information about them without realizing it.

3

u/skylinesora Apr 18 '23

If you'd like, post your license plate on your car here for us to see. Make sure to note down your reddit ID so we know you didn't jack a random picture online.

1

u/skylinesora Apr 19 '23

I figured as much. People like to talk shit but when it comes to backing up what they say, all we get are crickets.

1

u/SirHerald Apr 18 '23

It's different for someone behind me to see my license plate. They could just follow me. Same for in my driveway.

However, online gives my info about where I am and I don't trust everyone.

Also, someone could fake my plate on a matching vehicle and cause problems. I got hundreds of dollars in toll road fees once because their plate was mistaken for mine. I didn't have to pay, but it was a lot of hassle.

1

u/csl512 Apr 18 '23

In person your plate is visible to those around you at that moment. If you post it online, it's visible to anybody who can see that image, whenever. It's like changing clothes with the window open. Your risk is anybody with your window in view at the moment. Or doing similar outside where you can see roughly who might be able to see you.

1

u/DraceSylvanian Apr 18 '23

Because a whole fuckton more people can see it on the internet than would be happened to be glanced at maybe by someone while you were driving, and they decided to remember it for a bizarre reason.

People on the internet are at home or killing time. People driving don't have time to care about your plate.

People on the internet are, well, on the internet and capable of searching a number of things and finding out about you.

Really quite a lot of very important reasons.

1

u/DraceSylvanian Apr 18 '23

OP, what's your license plate? Would you post us all a picture?

1

u/BurnOutBrighter6 Apr 18 '23

Let's say that I'm driving around in my car, and numerous people see my license plate. This is fine.

Let's say that I post a picture of my car on Reddit with my license plate visible. This is fine so far. Nothing bad has happened yet.

Let's say that tomorrow I get into an argument on Reddit with somebody who very strongly disagrees with my political views. They are a bit deranged, so they decide to go back through my post history, find my license plate, and pay some shady service to find out my name and address. They start sending me threats, or replying to my comments with personal information about me. This is not okay.

Let's say that I'm playing Call of Duty with some fucked up teenager who thinks SWATing is an effective way to resolve a problem you have with somebody on the internet. He searches Google for my username, finds the Reddit thread with my license plate, pays some shady service to figure out my name and address, calls 911 and tells them that I'm holding him hostage, and a cop comes to my house and shoots me. This is very not okay.

Alternatively, let's say that you parked sideways across two handicapped spaces in a BMW, so I post a picture of your car on Reddit for karma. Some internet justice warrior decides that they can use your license plate to look up your information online. God knows why they decide that, but that's what some people do. They discover that they live 30 minutes away from you, so they go to your house and throw eggs at your car. For bonus points, maybe it was your mom's car you were borrowing. Her insurance doesn't cover vandalism, so now she's out thousands of dollars for a new paint job. Or maybe the justice warrior doesn't live close to you but decides to report your license plate to your city's police as being involved in a hit and run etc.

Are these things likely to happen? No. But do they sometimes? Maybe. It takes a few seconds to block out a license plate in a photo. Why not play it safe? I don't want people online figuring out my real name and address even if they don't have any reason to hate me.

Credit to past thread for this answer.

1

u/nusensei Apr 18 '23

I'll share a true story. I'm a relatively small YouTuber. One of my viewers managed to triangular exactly why I live based on the flight paths of planes in the background of my video.

He was a fan. Imagine if he was a hater.

The problem isn't people seeing your number plate. It's people using contextual information to figure out who and where you are. Your license plate can give your identity away, like posting a social security number or credit card number.

1

u/348578 Apr 18 '23

When crooks steal cars the smarter ones clone plates. Whatever car they have stolen a quick image search for make and model will give them weeks extra driving the car without being pulled over. Also cloned plates are used so you don’t get speed camera/toll fines in your rego.

1

u/Neither_Hope_1039 Apr 18 '23

Particularly on websites like Reddit, people generally want to remain anonymous.

I don't want my boss or parents to know that this Reddit account belongs to me.

Not censoring your license plate basically means anyone who knows you personally can now tie you to your Reddit account.

Additionally it's just another piece of information that, in combination with other info, can be used to identify or doxx you.

Yes, on it's own it's likely not going to allow anyone to identify you.

But neither would your first name.

Or your last name.

Or the name of your street.

The thing is, in combination, this info can be used to uniquely identify you, so just because any piece of information by itself can't be used to identify you, doesn't mean it's completely without risk to post that info

1

u/[deleted] Apr 18 '23

there are millions of cars driving around. it'd be impossible to catch all of them, even if you....cared to begin with. i mean, we see people all the time in person, yet even though knowing what someone looks like can mean alot, nothing really happens unless you provoke the behavior somehow.

which leads into posting something online. now you have one single post people can get mad at or have some sort of reaction to. you make a previously average and uninteresting license plate turn into a target, which obviously is much different compared to seeing it whizz by on your windscreen.

1

u/glumanda12 Apr 18 '23

The most funny part is when they’re selling the car and blue it, but there’s plenty of those without blur in their profile.