Digital license plates are a solution to a problem that doesn't exist -
But it is a money maker for the manufacturer at a subscription price of $29.99 / month
this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2024
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Imagine if this plate display could be driven by a low-end smartphone app running software that keeps GPS track of the vehicle;
- When the vehicle is parked at home; it displays a decoy/vanity/decorative plate.
- When the vehicle is on the road; at reasonable speeds it displays the "Default" Legal plate number...unless you signal it not to.
- When the vehicle is speeding or near a known ALPR camera; it shifts the plate number to a randomly numbered decoy plate number.
- When the vehicle is parked somewhere else; it chooses a random plate number and shifts that number every 1-2 hours at random odd intervals.
- When you toggle a certain setting on your personal device; it just sticks to a random plate number or current plate for an hour or two. (So you can get out of sight before it shifts again, in case you're being watched.)
Okay, why are these even a thing?
I've never heard of them so I googled it and these fucking things are $500 per plate to start from some private company and are listed as a "theft deterrent." Apparently they don't realize that it takes 20 seconds and a screwdriver to defeat these.
What a stupid idea and I'm pissed that yet another private company gets to take over a government function and charge high fees (after just returning from a trip where a bunch of vultures were circling the security lines trying to get people to sign up for Clear+, another private company, at $199/yr in order to bypass the long TSA checkpoint).
... Rodriguez also notes that jailbreaking the plates could also allow drivers to use the plates' features without paying Reviver's $29.99 monthly subscription fee.
This deserved to get hacked then.
That's brazenly exploitative to charge a subscription for what amounts to a digital picture frame of your license plate
ETA to running Doom on it?
Dear Santa...
It's insane to me that any government would approve "digital licence plates". Clowns making decisions "because we can", not "because we should". Result: a circus.
When they first started this idea in California I made a 6-pack of beer bet with fellow IT programmers on how long it would take to hack these lol.
I lost because it happened later than I expected and now the winner gets 4 x 6-packs of micro beers of their choosing.
Buy em before tariffs get put on New Zealand hops...
This is the boring Jurassic Park I expected
I'm glad little Bobby is doing well for himself
Why would people buy into digital license plates? The article said they have GSP tracking. Do we really want to be tracked even more? I guess this will just be forced on us. We need to resist it!
Good luck buying a car that isn't equipped with GPS tracking.
Isn't it usually as simple as a fuse to disable it?
It's usually built into the infotainment system
I think the GPS tracking is for if your plates are stolen, which is a real problem
But frankly, the benefits just don't outweigh the cost, now if I could have it display custom messages whenever I want.....
Unrelated question - anyone know one of Elon Musks' license plates?
Make: Gulfstream
Model: 2015 GVI (G650ER)
Tail Number: N628NS
Very surprised these are legal in any state