# License Plates on TV: To Pixilate vs. Not Pixilate **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 17, 2006, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/license-plates-on-tv-to-pixilate-vs-not-pixilate/369078 "2006-08-17T12:47:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/license-plates-on-tv-to-pixilate-vs-not-pixilate/369078/1 "2006-08-17T12:47:40Z")
Watching _The Dog Whisperer_ on the National Geographic Channel, I see that the license plates on Cesar Milan’s red Jeep are not pixillated. His license plate number is there for all of America to see. However, on other shows, license plates are pixillated, particularly on police shows like _Cops_ and such. What’s the reasoning behind this? I see hundreds of licesne plates every day on the streets; how would my life be any different if I knew the license plate number of some stranger several states away, whose car happened to show up on my TV? To what nefarious end could I use the knowledge that, in Indianapolis, there’s a white Ford Taurus with Indiana license #37B6159? And why does the National Geographic Channel not care that I know Cesar Milan’s license plate number? For the record, my car is a 1998 Saturn SL2, gold four-door. Illinois license #9943356. I’m so confident that nobody can use that information for any purpose, that I’m posting it here on the SDMB. Go to town 🙂 . ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/license-plates-on-tv-to-pixilate-vs-not-pixilate/369078/2 "2006-08-17T14:20:12Z")
IANAL, but I think the reason that they pixillate the license plates is that someone with the proper connections could use the license plate info to find the name and address of the vehicle owner. This could lead to consequences that the producers would not want to be liable for. ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/license-plates-on-tv-to-pixilate-vs-not-pixilate/369078/3 "2006-08-17T14:30:09Z")
In many cases, unblurred license plates in movies and TV shows belong to companies that provide cars to movies and TV shows, or to the studio itself or some other company involved in the production. So there’s no need to hide it. Otherwise, I assumed it was just a courtesy, because concievably the information could be used to get someone’s home address. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/license-plates-on-tv-to-pixilate-vs-not-pixilate/369078/4 "2006-08-17T18:23:52Z")
I’ll echo the last two comments and add that when I was in the PI business, it would have taken me five minutes to pull your car’s registration info from the license plate, get your name and address (along with a host of other personal information), and more than likely be able to see your driving record. Fortunately for you, since I’m no longer in the business, I would now have to spend money to get this information, and I’m not going to do that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/license-plates-on-tv-to-pixilate-vs-not-pixilate/369078/5 "2006-08-17T19:29:48Z")
Well then here’s what I don’t get: thousands of people see my license plate number every day. In theory, any one of them could use that to find personal information about me. But since my plates aren’t pixillated in real life, then why should they be pixillated for the TV? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/license-plates-on-tv-to-pixilate-vs-not-pixilate/369078/6 "2006-08-17T19:37:04Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Well then here’s what I don’t get: thousands of people see my license plate number every day. In theory, any one of them could use that to find personal information about me. But since my plates aren’t pixillated in real life, then why should they be pixillated for the TV? You are missing the point. In everyday life, you are not on the public stage. Nobody is likely to care who you are. On TV, people are the centers of attention at least temporarily and thousands or millions of people could be watching a given time. There are nutjobs out there that have instant love or hate for you and decide to take it a step further if for no reason other than bordeom or curiosity. People do weird things based on things they read or what they see on TV. This is especially pronounced when someone is being videotaped screaming at a cop while drunk at 3 am or yelling at their child. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/license-plates-on-tv-to-pixilate-vs-not-pixilate/369078/7 "2006-08-17T22:30:23Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Well then here’s what I don’t get: thousands of people see my license plate number every day. In theory, any one of them could use that to find personal information about me. But since my plates aren’t pixillated in real life, then why should they be pixillated for the TV? For the same reason that you don’;t regularly get prank called even though your phone number is likely listed: your average person doesn’t care, but there’s always jerks with nothing better to do watching TV or listening to the radio just waiting to call 867-5309 and ask if Jenny’s there. Why give them something to look up so just so they can track the person down for the sole purpose of calling them a pinhead? ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/license-plates-on-tv-to-pixilate-vs-not-pixilate/369078/8 "2006-08-17T22:43:01Z")
This thread reminds me of the ancient “Jerque du Jour” website (which disappeared ages ago) in which a guy told his stories about commuting down the treacherous SR19 highway from Santa Cruz to San Jose. Every day, he would encounter what he called “the biggest jerk on the highway”, take a snapshot of the person’s car with his digital camera, and post the photo on the Internet. Each car’s license plate was blurred out…EXCEPT the one guy who flipped him off. That one, I suppose, he left unblurred with the subconscious hope that this person would ultimately track him down, just so he could talk to him in person and tell the guy what a fucking pinhead he was. As far as I know, the guy never contacted him, though. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/license-plates-on-tv-to-pixilate-vs-not-pixilate/369078/9 "2006-08-18T06:59:55Z")
The word you’re looking for is ‘pixellated’. As you were. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/license-plates-on-tv-to-pixilate-vs-not-pixilate/369078/10 "2006-08-18T07:03:19Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > This thread reminds me of the ancient “Jerque du Jour” website (which disappeared ages ago) in which a guy told his stories about commuting down the treacherous SR19 highway from Santa Cruz to San Jose. Minor nitpick but it’s Highway 17 (SR17). SR19 is somewhere down south. ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/license-plates-on-tv-to-pixilate-vs-not-pixilate/369078/11 "2006-08-18T07:26:56Z")
In California, some pretty actress was killed by an obsessed nutcase, and it turned out the guy got her address from DMV. Terrified celebs phoned their representatives. In record time we had a law that the DMV doesn’t just give out people’s addresses on such a casual basis. 🙂 Other states, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/license-plates-on-tv-to-pixilate-vs-not-pixilate/369078/12 "2006-08-18T07:33:08Z")
And, to actually reply to the OP, on COPS there is an issue in that the license plates belong to folks who are, um, not on their best behavior that day. I don’t think they mention last names, either. Lawsuits. And the Whisperer probably uses that jeep for his business, and is registered to his biz address, which is in the freaking phone book. I bet he drives a Lexus home from the office with no dog hair in it. Although I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/license-plates-on-tv-to-pixilate-vs-not-pixilate/369078/13 "2006-08-18T07:36:43Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > This thread reminds me of the ancient “Jerque du Jour” website (which disappeared ages ago) in which a guy told his stories about commuting down the treacherous SR19 highway from Santa Cruz to San Jose. Every day, he would encounter what he called “the biggest jerk on the highway”, take a snapshot of the person’s car with his digital camera, and post the photo on the Internet. > > Each car’s license plate was blurred out…EXCEPT the one guy who flipped him off. That one, I suppose, he left unblurred with the subconscious hope that this person would ultimately track him down, just so he could talk to him in person and tell the guy what a fucking pinhead he was. > > As far as I know, the guy never contacted him, though. I think I may start doing that. Except here in LA I would have the “Daily Top Ten” with material to spare. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/license-plates-on-tv-to-pixilate-vs-not-pixilate/369078/14 "2006-08-18T12:04:23Z")
> [@Happy Wanderer](#): > > In California, some pretty actress was killed by an obsessed nutcase, and it turned out the guy got her address from DMV. Terrified celebs phoned their representatives. In record time we had a law that the DMV doesn’t just give out people’s addresses on such a casual basis. 🙂 Other states, not so much. [Rebecca Schaeffer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Schaeffer) ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/license-plates-on-tv-to-pixilate-vs-not-pixilate/369078/15 "2006-08-18T12:59:47Z")
> [@Really Not All That Bright](#): > > The word you’re looking for is ‘pixellated’. Maybe he really meant “obscured by fairies”. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/license-plates-on-tv-to-pixilate-vs-not-pixilate/369078/16 "2006-08-18T13:05:36Z")
> [@Really Not All That Bright](#): > > The word you’re looking for is ‘pixellated’. > > As you were. Unless he’s talking about Mr. Deeds. ---
**Author:** ![FormerMarineGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/65b543/32.png) [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/license-plates-on-tv-to-pixilate-vs-not-pixilate/369078/17 "2006-08-18T13:34:58Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > For the record, my car is a 1998 Saturn SL2, gold four-door. Illinois license #9943356. I’m so confident that nobody can use that information for any purpose, that I’m posting it here on the SDMB. Go to town 🙂 . I am sure I could get all of your [personal information](http://www.abika.com/Reports/VehicleDrivingRecords.htm) here, but I do not feel like spending the money to get it, nor would I post it on this board. Or I could call my brother-in-law (a deputy) and I am sure he could call it in as a suspicous vehicle and I could find everything out about you. Like the others said, I think it is just because you become the center of attention and perhaps someone, out of boredom, hatred, or lunacy just might decide to make it their goal to find you. ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/license-plates-on-tv-to-pixilate-vs-not-pixilate/369078/18 "2006-08-19T00:16:29Z")
> [@FormerMarineGuy](#): > > I am sure I could get all of your [personal information](http://www.abika.com/Reports/VehicleDrivingRecords.htm) here, but I do not feel like spending the money to get it, nor would I post it on this board. Or I could call my brother-in-law (a deputy) and I am sure he could call it in as a suspicous vehicle and I could find everything out about you. > > Like the others said, I think it is just because you become the center of attention and perhaps someone, out of boredom, hatred, or lunacy just might decide to make it their goal to find you. From the top of the page you linked: \*\* Affidavit of intended use required for all Motor Vehicle Searches. Searcher information is verified before processing the search. All Search requests must comply with the Drivers Privacy Protection Act of 1994.\*\* Whatever that gets ya…