# Digital License Plates - Dumbest idea ever **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 29, 2020, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740 "2020-11-29T21:55:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740/81 "2020-11-30T23:53:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If you want to make it difficult to change, then you make it a stamped piece of metal, and then weld it to the frame of the car. That’s already done. It’s called the VIN. License plates aren’t supposed to be difficult to change. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740/82 "2020-11-30T23:53:56Z")
Well, we could just make the license plate one big sticker they can print up and hand you at the DMV. There’s a good use of technology for this problem. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740/83 "2020-12-01T00:11:42Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > No more nonsense with temp plates, waiting for the real plates to arrive, having to install the new ones myself, applying new stickers once a year, etc. Really? I keep hearing stories about the US DMVs and I just shake my head. I bought a car. I got a temporary permit at the dealer. I drove to a private insurance agency that has a contract with the provincial government. I walked in and said “I’d like to register a car, please.” They said “Basic policy or additional coverage?” I said “additional coverage”. They said “sign here” and ran my credit card through machine. They gave me plates. “Do you need a screwdriver?” “Yes,” I said. They said, “We’ll do that for you,” went out and put the plates on. And since it’s all computerised, once a year I get a bill to renew. I go online and pay it. No stickers, because the cops can check the status of the plates any time as they drive along and want to check if my plates are valid. Canadian socialism at work, I guess. 😀 ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740/84 "2020-12-01T00:14:01Z")
As a counterpoint, here in the good ol’ US of A, I didn’t have to do any of that last time I bought a car. The dealer had the license plates ready to go and put in on for it. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740/85 "2020-12-01T00:15:01Z")
> [@FigNorton](#): > > Well, we could just make the license plate one big sticker they can print up and hand you at the DMV. There’s a good use of technology for this problem. The new temp plates seem to be printed at the dealer, or maybe they keep a stack of pre-made ones. So that’s kinda close, but you still have to install the real plate later. > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > And since it’s all computerised, once a year I get a bill to renew. I go online and pay it. No stickers, because the cops can check the status of the plates any time as they drive along and want to check if my plates are valid. I wish they would do that here. There’s no reason they can’t. Of course, what you’re saying demonstrates that whatever privacy you thought you had, you really didn’t. A digital plate doesn’t subtract from that at all. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740/86 "2020-12-01T00:20:15Z")
Well, yeah a digital plate with a gps, internet connection and speed monitor would change your privacy. No one thinks a disconnected Kindle plate is inherently privacy invading ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740/87 "2020-12-01T00:23:29Z")
> [@FigNorton](#): > > Well, yeah a digital plate with a gps, internet connection and speed monitor would change your privacy. Compared to many/most modern cars already having that, as well as a connection to the drivetrain, door locks, microphones, cameras, etc.? ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740/88 "2020-12-01T00:24:27Z")
Not compared to. In addition to. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740/89 "2020-12-01T00:25:54Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Really? I keep hearing stories about the US DMVs and I just shake my head. > > I bought a car. I got a temporary permit at the dealer. I drove to a private insurance agency that has a contract with the provincial government. I walked in and said “I’d like to register a car, please.” They said “Basic policy or additional coverage?” I said “additional coverage”. They said “sign here” and ran my credit card through machine. They gave me plates. “Do you need a screwdriver?” “Yes,” I said. They said, “We’ll do that for you,” went out and put the plates on. > > And since it’s all computerised, once a year I get a bill to renew. I go online and pay it. No stickers, because the cops can check the status of the plates any time as they drive along and want to check if my plates are valid. > > Canadian socialism at work, I guess. In NY it’s very easy. When I bought my latest car (and traded in my old one), I went to the dealership and made a deal. Picked it up a few days later. For that I went in and we did the paperwork. Gave the salesman my insurance card and he called my insurance company to change over the insurance to the new car. He put on the temporary (30 day) registration sticker on the windshield. He took off the plates from my trade-in and put them on my new car. I drove off. A few weeks later the registration arrived and I threw out the temporary and put in the regular one. Now, every two years I get a bill to renew my registration and I get a new sticker for the windshield. And twice a year I make payments on my car insurance. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740/90 "2020-12-01T03:01:35Z")
Yeah, the DMV can be drag like any other “line up and fill out forms” experience can. I haven’t had too bad a time there … relatively speaking. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740/91 "2020-12-01T05:05:32Z")
Ask your grampa if Michigan-designed cars started on Michigan January mornings back in the 50’s.[quote=“jtur88, post:91, topic:926740, full:true”] Ask your grampa if Michigan-designed cars started on Michigan January mornings back in the 50’s. [/quote] ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740/92 "2020-12-01T09:39:24Z")
"As long as we’re imagining “what if everything gets hacked!?!?”, someone could already flip a bit in the police database tagging your real plate as stolen. " History shows that it is not a case of imagining if stored data gets hacked, but when. It simply depends on the creativity of the hacker as to what happens then. “If you’re driving any remotely late model car, there are way bigger things to worry about with regard to hacking. Like disabling your _brakes_ remotely.” That’s news to me. What models are affected? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740/93 "2020-12-01T10:58:31Z")
> [@Brayne\_Ded](#): > > That’s news to me. What models are affected? This article’s from several years ago, but vehicles are only more connected these days: > **[Hackers Remotely Kill a Jeep on the Highway—With Me in It](https://www.wired.com/2015/07/hackers-remotely-kill-jeep-highway/)** > > I was driving 70 mph on the edge of downtown St. Louis when the exploit began to take hold. > Miller and Valasek’s full arsenal includes functions that at lower speeds fully kill the engine, abruptly engage the brakes, or disable them altogether. The most disturbing maneuver came when they cut the Jeep’s brakes, leaving me frantically pumping the pedal as the 2-ton SUV slid uncontrollably into a ditch. The researchers say they’re working on perfecting their steering control—for now they can only hijack the wheel when the Jeep is in reverse. Their hack enables surveillance too: They can track a targeted Jeep’s GPS coordinates, measure its speed, and even drop pins on a map to trace its route. Automakers have, I suspect, gotten better with this over time, if only because they were absolutely terrible before. Nevertheless, if your perspective is that everything that can be hacked will be hacked, then just about every car out there is vulnerable. They have wireless connected systems that are not physically isolated from the drivetrain computers. If you can get into that, you can do anything–including slamming on the brakes for just one side of the vehicle. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740/94 "2020-12-01T12:37:44Z")
To be clear, my concern isn’t with these things being hacked. My concern is with them working exactly as designed. Specifically, the ones that are designed to be used nefariously. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740/95 "2020-12-01T14:17:43Z")
> [@TheCuse](#): > > I don’t know of any mass hacking by individuals to cause crashes or harm. Besides–a hacker isn’t going to make any money by making someone crash their car. And isn’t hacking usually about money? Some men just want to watch the world burn. Note for example the recent rash of hacking into home surveillance cameras, apparently for no greater purpose than to harass and intimidate the homeowners. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740/96 "2020-12-01T14:27:30Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Some men just want to watch the world burn. > > Note for example the recent rash of hacking into home surveillance cameras, apparently for no greater purpose than to harass and intimidate the homeowners. Yes–some people do hack those home surveillance cameras for that reason. I don’t think it’s that widespread considering the number of cameras out there. (Or if it very common, the media really hasn’t covered it.) And that’s why I don’t think there’s going to be hacked-car apocalypse or anything. People will hack just for the sake of hacking or harassment, like you said, though. I also read some news stories where some of the hackers of those cameras were jilted ex-lovers or former spouses. Or angry neighbors. Of course, not all of them. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740/97 "2020-12-01T14:34:05Z")
I’m just waiting for a person get fined for an “unreadable license plate” when the system goes down. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740/98 "2020-12-01T14:36:08Z")
The technology that’s being used is e-ink, which, as I understand it, keeps the image until power is applied when a change is needed. I think that means even if the “system goes down”, the plate number would continue to display. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740/99 "2020-12-01T14:40:42Z")
System going down could include system bugs and hacking everyone’s license plate to read “PARTY69-420” ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740/100 "2020-12-01T14:45:32Z")
But will it give directions to said party? Or do you just follow and ask? 🤪 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-license-plates-dumbest-idea-ever/926740.md?page=6)