# What is this on this car?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 23, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838 "2017-03-23T16:01:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838/1 "2017-03-23T16:01:54Z")
Driving yesterday I saw a guy driving a Honda Del Sol with some type of transmitter boxes mounted on the trunk lid.
[ ](https://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah285/Hampshire1/IMG_1165_zps4lajdzkc.jpg)
Any idea of what these are for?
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### Author:  [@Dana\_Scully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dana_Scully)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838/2 "2017-03-23T16:20:13Z")
No, and you should have blurred out the license plate; you’ve just invaded this person’s privacy and possibly endangered them.
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2017, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838/3 "2017-03-23T16:26:11Z")
> [@Dana\_Scully](#):
>
> No, and you should have blurred out the license plate; you’ve just invaded this person’s privacy and possibly endangered them.
How so? The license plate is publicly displayed on the streets every day.
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### Author:  [@Dana\_Scully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dana_Scully)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838/4 "2017-03-23T16:36:08Z")
Women wearing skirts are publicly displayed on the streets every day.
Just because hardly anyone takes up-skirt photos of them, it doesn’t mean it’s NOT an invasion of privacy if you did it **without** permission.
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### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838/5 "2017-03-23T16:39:56Z")
There’s no expectation of privacy if you display a license plate in public.
It’s possible he is working for [SkyHook](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyhook_Wireless).
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838/6 "2017-03-23T16:54:55Z")
> [@Dana\_Scully](#):
>
> No, and you should have blurred out the license plate; you’ve just invaded this person’s privacy and possibly endangered them.
I saw several license plates on my way to work today.
Should I have my memory wiped?
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### Author:  [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838/7 "2017-03-23T17:05:03Z")
And what does any of this have to do with the OP’s question? Five response and none dealing with the OP’s questions. If only this place had rules. 😉
It’s some sort of test equipment. Not sure where you are getting transmitter boxes from, as they look hard wired into the trunk. That’s about all that can be determined without actually stopping the guy and asking. Then you could also ask him if it’s OK to post a photo of his car and plates on the internet but it’s too late now. Perhaps since we know his license number we could track him down and ask.
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### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2017, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838/8 "2017-03-23T17:06:08Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#):
>
> And what does any of this have to do with the OP’s question? Five response and none dealing with the OP’s questions. If only this place had rules. 😉
>
> It’s some sort of test equipment. That’s about all that can be determined without actually stopping the guy and asking. Then you could also ask him if it’s OK to post a photo of his car and plates on the internet.
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20087577&postcount=5](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20087577&postcount=5)
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2017, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838/9 "2017-03-23T17:07:33Z")
> [@Dana\_Scully](#):
>
> Women wearing skirts are publicly displayed on the streets every day.
>
> Just because hardly anyone takes up-skirt photos of them, it doesn’t mean it’s NOT an invasion of privacy if you did it **without** permission.
Not a valid comparison. Taking ‘up skirt’ pictures requires an intent to invade privacy. This is just photographing a public street.
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2017, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838/10 "2017-03-23T17:07:37Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#):
>
> And what does any of this have to do with the OP’s question? Five response and none dealing with the OP’s questions. If only this place had rules. 😉
Post #5 offered an idea. But mostly we don’t know. Post #2, on the other hand, raised a question we do all have an opinion on.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2017, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838/11 "2017-03-23T17:11:48Z")
> [@beowulff](#):
>
> There’s no expectation of privacy if you display a license plate in public.
>
> It’s possible he is working for [SkyHook](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyhook_Wireless).
[Here](http://cgscomputer.com/tech-blog/2017/01/08/police-scanner-tracking-privacy/)’s a link to a page about automated license plate scanners. The photo shows the trunk of a police car, with two boxes on the left and right sides. They look similar to the thing in the OP.
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### Author:  [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2017, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838/12 "2017-03-23T17:12:50Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> [Here](http://cgscomputer.com/tech-blog/2017/01/08/police-scanner-tracking-privacy/)’s a link to a page about automated license plate scanners. The photo shows the trunk of a police car, with two boxes on the left and right sides. They look similar to the thing in the OP.
Dammit! I was just coming here to post that. :mad:
Well, here’s my link anyway. [Automated License Plate Recognition | International Association of Chiefs of Police](http://www.iacp.org/ALPR)
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2017, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838/13 "2017-03-23T17:13:38Z")
It would be ironic if that’s what it is.
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### Author:  [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2017, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838/14 "2017-03-23T17:15:21Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> [Here](http://cgscomputer.com/tech-blog/2017/01/08/police-scanner-tracking-privacy/)’s a link to a page about automated license plate scanners. The photo shows the trunk of a police car, with two boxes on the left and right sides. They look similar to the thing in the OP.
So the OP took a picture of someone who was violating everyone’s privacy. Karma.
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2017, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838/15 "2017-03-23T17:20:14Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> [Here](http://cgscomputer.com/tech-blog/2017/01/08/police-scanner-tracking-privacy/)’s a link to a page about automated license plate scanners. The photo shows the trunk of a police car, with two boxes on the left and right sides. They look similar to the thing in the OP.
Which makes post #2 mightily ironic, if that’s indeed what they are.
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### Author:  [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838/16 "2017-03-23T17:24:49Z")
> [@Dana\_Scully](#):
>
> Women wearing skirts are publicly displayed on the streets every day.
>
> Just because hardly anyone takes up-skirt photos of them, it doesn’t mean it’s NOT an invasion of privacy if you did it **without** permission.
And what about if you just took a photo of a woman walking down the street while wearing a skirt? Is that an invasion of privacy too?
[In the U.S., no. You have no reasonable expectation of privacy in public.]
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### Author:  [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2017, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838/17 "2017-03-23T17:28:06Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#):
>
> So the OP took a picture of someone who was violating everyone’s privacy. Karma.
Yup, looks like he sold his Del Sol to the devil.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2017, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838/18 "2017-03-23T17:30:54Z")
One of the companies making automated license plate readers is a [division of 3M](http://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/All-3M-Products/Security-Hardware-Software/Automated-License-Plate-Recognition/Safety/Public-Safety/Plate-Alert/?N=5002385+8709322+8709393+8710673+8710824+8711017+8734404+3294857497&rt=r3). So it’s _possible_ that what the OP saw was one of the engineers testing the equipment?
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838/19 "2017-03-23T17:43:17Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> One of the companies making automated license plate readers is a [division of 3M](http://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/All-3M-Products/Security-Hardware-Software/Automated-License-Plate-Recognition/Safety/Public-Safety/Plate-Alert/?N=5002385+8709322+8709393+8710673+8710824+8711017+8734404+3294857497&rt=r3). So it’s _possible_ that what the OP saw was one of the engineers testing the equipment?
It certainly isn’t a standard-issue police cruiser. Even unmarked cars usually have emergency lights visible in the rear window.
> [@slash2k](#):
>
> And what about if you just took a photo of a woman walking down the street while wearing a skirt? Is that an invasion of privacy too?
>
> [In the U.S., no. You have no reasonable expectation of privacy in public.]
Generally true, if not for commercial use.
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### Author:  [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2017, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-on-this-car/782838/20 "2017-03-23T17:45:21Z")
They look very much like license plate scanners to me.
They aren’t just used by law enforcement. He may be a repo man or private detective, technologist, or whatever. It isn’t a violation of privacy to take photos of things you see in public.
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