[MiloMini]

Guys, hope it's ok to post this, wasn't sure!

A number of people - across the web, not just in this forum, post pictures of their cars. Some mask their number plates and some don't.

Apart from a privacy issue can anyone tell me why people mask the number plate on pics please? I would like to know before I post pics in 4 weeks!!!

thanks

Milo.

 

[donnaj1dlh]

Personally, I don't see the point. Hundreds of randoms see my car everyday anyway........

 

[GoKart7]

Personally, I don't see the point. Hundreds of randoms see my car everyday anyway........

So beautifully said Donna >

 

[palgt1]

It's to do with cloning - let's say you've just stolen a black f56 and need to get rid of the plates and fit another number, If you fitted a set of plates off a Fiesta, its going to look suspicious if the Police did a check. Also if you fitted another cars plates you could run speed cameras all day and the poor sod who's plates you'd cloned would have to prove it wasn't his car !!
I know you could just tour the local car park and get the info there but as you know the internet has a huge audience and this info can be gathered without even leaving your comfy chair - plus I'd just downloaded Photo Editor and wanted to test it out !!

 

[MintMark]

I erased my numbers because I'd seen other people do it and assumed there was a good reason...

Yes other people see my car all the time but they don't know anything about me. This forum does know a little about me and the internet knows a lot more. Maybe someone with enough info about me and now with info about my car could do something with car ownership records or something?

 

[MiloMini]

Thanks guys, totally answered my question. Makes a lot of sense.

 

[johnan]

I erased my numbers because I'd seen other people do it and assumed there was a good reason...

Yes other people see my car all the time but they don't know anything about me. This forum does know a little about me and the internet knows a lot more. Maybe someone with enough info about me and now with info about my car could do something with car ownership records or something?

This is the main reason. It is frightening how much identity information can be gleaned from the internet if you know a few facts about someone, and know where to look.
You want to give away as little as possible.

 

[cosmic68]

I recommend you do particularly as these pics are the first of theF56's going up on the internet. Someone wanting to clone would have to wait around a longtime waiting for a "random" Mini of their spec they needed to go past them.
In two mins, they can log on here and find the number plate of the perfect Volcanic Orange MCS in seconds if people are careless with their privacy.

It's not paranoid, and I believe you'd be unlucky, but it does happen.

 

[DaveT]

There's another reason that i've experienced in that you can copy the photo and use it to sell fridge magnets and key rings featuring the photo on eBay. This has been done to one of my cars a 1935 Austin 7 which now sells on eBay and there's nothing you can do about it.
So as the new F56 is rarer it will probably be done, It stinks but thats life.

 

[Washy]

I thought long and hard about this before I posted my photos and in the end left them as they were. I fully understand why people want to mask them and have done myself in the past, but I just felt the photos lost something with the plates masked out.

Some of the pics of Ronnie have had over a 1000 hits on Flickr now so too late anyway

 

[MintMark]

I know what you mean about losing something... I did briefly consider adding in some replacement text for the plates, but I couldn't be bothered to think of anything.

 

[andyross37]

One of my friends told me off for posting photos of my car on Facebook, with the registration number showing.

But, when I post photos on Facebook, they are only visible to my friends, they're not visible to anyone not on my friends list, and not visible to anyone on my 'acquaintance or restricted' lists.

If I can't trust my friends, then who can I trust!

 

[MintMark]

But can you trust facebook?

 

[andyross37]

Can you trust the internet would be a more appropriate question.

Thinking Facebook, Google etc........for example I googled a shop the other day and the next think I know, my phone told me how long it would take to get there.......

Almost everything we do these days is tracked in some form or another!

 

[lawrothegreat]

Stealing to order is another problem. It may seem a little far fetched as you can just tour streets to find cars, but if someone wants a particular car (and we do reveal specs on here) then with a registration plate it's not difficult to find the registered address (in the UK).

 

[MiloMini]

It's so sad in this day and age that these things happen. Inevitable given the advance of technology but it's still a shame.