Hiding your number plate when posting photos online

[PRB]

After creating a new car thread on here I was just about to upload pictures of the car and it got me thinking, should I obscure my reg?

One the one hand you drive around all day with it on display but a cars reg number can be the key to finding out information about a car’s owner including names and addresses.

So is showing your reg ok or am I just being overly paranoid?

 

[PobodY]

I don't personally worry about it. - I am not (a) posting a picture of me doing anything illegal, (b) in possession of a highly valuable car that might be targeted for theft.

Having said that, I feel under no obligation to let people see the plate unless I'm trying to sell it (because someone is going to want to do all the checks).

 

[dest]

Some people are paranoid. As you say, you don’t hide it when you drive around so what’s the difference?
I’ve been posting my cars online for 19 years without blocking the plate.
I’ve never heard of anyone getting their plate cloned as a result of it being online, it’s really not something to worry about.

 

[ChrisN53]

Don't see the point. Worst case, they check your MOT history, insurance status or tax status...right?

 

[renault12ts]

Hide it, just in case you've been caught doing something by a dash cam...and then it's posted on You Tube...then on here.

 

[BTB 500]

It is really to do with cloning. If you have a specific model and colour (let's say a red GLC63) that you want false plates for it's far quicker and easier to Google an online owners forum for pictures than stand by the side of the road in the hope that one will go past. ANPR, tolls, congestion zones, etc. make cloning very tempting, and it's super easy (and cheap) to order plates online with whatever you like on them.

 

[TheFoX]

It becomes even worse if you blank out a registration plate that has a custom registration. After all, why go to the expense of spelling your name out on the registration plate only to blank it out when posting photos of your cherished registration to an online forum.

 

[Mactech]

My private plate has been on 6 cars in the last 10 years, which car are they going to clone?
...and if you are going to clone a car, you would hardly use a reg number that might draw attention to it, would you?
If you want to see reg numbers, check out the popularity of our own 'Seen any good reg numbers recently' thread!

 

[Abb]

I would defintely hide it, as there doesn't seem to be any number plates visible on autotrader, piston heads, ebay, gumtree, etc. So the only place someone could get your reg details from is a random onlne car forum

 

[kianok]

I’ve wondered about this also.

What if I upset a forum bully and they find my address and beat me up?

I reality I’m too lazy and can’t be ar$ed to edit my plate out.

 

[DSM10000]

I would defintely hide it, as there doesn't seem to be any number plates visible on autotrader, piston heads, ebay, gumtree, etc. So the only place someone could get your reg details from is a random onlne car forum

None visible on Autotrader ?

I just looked at the first page of cars displayed on AT with no filtering, all had plates displayed.

 

[dest]

Ah, the lost art of sarcasm...

 

[John]

Personal choice.

Cloning as said would be one reason to hide it.

Also, if there is anything valuable either in your car, your car is particularly desirable (who makes that decision?) or something valuable that you have which would be linked (which you might talk about on a public forum). There's a difference between "just driving around" (where you are relatively anonymous) and being on a forum because of that.

The way I look at it is that people up to no good will look for an easy target.

So in the same way as locking your windows and doors when you leave your house empty can prevent opportunism, spending a couple of minutes drawing white and yellow rectangles over your plates means they cannot be seen (unless you leave the reflection on show).

 

[AMGeed]

Never bothered to hide my plate before so I'm not starting now.

 

[GLK]

I only hide my plate, if I post in politics thread (which I don't)

 

[DSM10000]

Ah, the lost art of sarcasm...

Since when is factual information sarcasm?

 

[GLK]

I only hide my plate, if I post in politics thread (which I don't)

Apparently, that statement requires clarification.

Very well then: Ay! Ex - EU

 

[Abb]

Since when is factual information sarcasm?

It was with reference to my initial post I believe:

I would defintely hide it, as there doesn't seem to be any number plates visible on autotrader, piston heads, ebay, gumtree, etc. So the only place someone could get your reg details from is a random onlne car forum

Ah, the lost art of sarcasm...

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Whenever I need to buy plates it's quite the ****ache.

 

[renault12ts]

Since when is factual information sarcasm?

It isn't...it was a strange post.

Edit: Saw Abb's post.