Would you back digital car plates?

[User 180565 is taking donation]

Not sure why this idea sounds amazing to me. Of course some planning and ideas to make digital screens legible and less fragile for the road would be needed. If we really want a future I think this is a good step. The industry wants electric vehicles so why not? With eSim like technology we could instantly add new yearly tags that would apply automatically, send out sos emergency to law enforcement and have features such as instant gps track in case our cars get stolen or goes off a ditch. With complete user control to enable or disable certain features. Of course theirs the issue with screen failure as well but that can be said for the same with cars having digital dashes already and TVs as headboards.

[wildmaven]

The last thing I need while driving is yet another lighted thing on a car. The headlights on some cars now just blind you.

I'm sure vandals would love the fun of breaking digital license plates and then the cops would gladly give you a ticket for having a busted license plate.

[User 180565 is taking donation]

Jul 8, 2023 16:31:30 GMT -8 wildmaven said:

The last thing I need while driving is yet another lighted thing on a car. The headlights on some cars now just blind you.

I'm sure vandals would love the fun of breaking digital license plates and then the cops would gladly give you a ticket for having a busted license plate.

A vandal could just as easily unscrew your back plates or attempt to steal a cars tag happens more than you think

www.progressive.com/answers/stolen-car-registration/

Some cdl or trucks have to put back lights on plates just so they can be seen easier at night.

[wildmaven]

Jul 8, 2023 17:07:23 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

Jul 8, 2023 16:31:30 GMT -8 wildmaven said:

The last thing I need while driving is yet another lighted thing on a car. The headlights on some cars now just blind you.

I'm sure vandals would love the fun of breaking digital license plates and then the cops would gladly give you a ticket for having a busted license plate.

A vandal could just as easily unscrew your back plates or attempt to steal a cars tag happens more than you think

www.progressive.com/answers/stolen-car-registration/

Some cdl or trucks have to put back lights on plates just so they can be seen easier at night.

Yeah, I know all about the theft of plates. An electronic plate would be even more enticing. 

[User 180565 is taking donation]

Jul 8, 2023 17:19:32 GMT -8 wildmaven said:

Jul 8, 2023 17:07:23 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

A vandal could just as easily unscrew your back plates or attempt to steal a cars tag happens more than you think

www.progressive.com/answers/stolen-car-registration/

Some cdl or trucks have to put back lights on plates just so they can be seen easier at night.

Yeah, I know all about the theft of plates. An electronic plate would be even more enticing. 

Given how it would be applied to the vehicle not as easy if from the manufacturer tabs could back it so the only way to dissembling it would have to be through an open trunk. Plus a camera could instantly snap a shot of the person damaging it. I'd rather at least have an idea of what happened instead of not knowing the time and date of nothing to it. There could be even more security information implanted such as ring has where it alerts you whose near your vehicle. This is the best thing about mobile chips you can add more to it and make adjustments.

[Derek‽]

Jul 8, 2023 15:42:53 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

Not sure why this idea sounds amazing to me. Of course some planning and ideas to make digital screens legible and less fragile for the road would be needed. If we really want a future I think this is a good step. The industry wants electric vehicles so why not? With eSim like technology we could instantly add new yearly tags that would apply automatically, send out sos emergency to law enforcement and have features such as instant gps track in case our cars get stolen or goes off a ditch. With complete user control to enable or disable certain features. Of course theirs the issue with screen failure as well but that can be said for the same with cars having digital dashes already and TVs as headboards.

OK, but what's the point? What problem does this actually solve? Just because something is electronic doesn't make it better or more futuristic.

We don't add new tags every year, we keep the same tags and apply a new registration sticker. Why do we need a screen to replace a steel/plastic plate and a sticker? Who is too lazy to get a new sticker every year or two (an option) and do we really want to pander to someone like that? No, the answer is no.

Here's what will actually make things better: get rid of the registration stickers. Police cruisers already have cameras that can read license plates and run them through the state registration database, so stickers are unnecessary. Also, instead of annual DMV trips, include registration fees as part of the yearly state tax filings.

As for the other features, congrats! You've just invented OnStar.

[User 180565 is taking donation]

Jul 8, 2023 17:56:55 GMT -8 Derek‽ said:

Jul 8, 2023 15:42:53 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

Not sure why this idea sounds amazing to me. Of course some planning and ideas to make digital screens legible and less fragile for the road would be needed. If we really want a future I think this is a good step. The industry wants electric vehicles so why not? With eSim like technology we could instantly add new yearly tags that would apply automatically, send out sos emergency to law enforcement and have features such as instant gps track in case our cars get stolen or goes off a ditch. With complete user control to enable or disable certain features. Of course theirs the issue with screen failure as well but that can be said for the same with cars having digital dashes already and TVs as headboards.

OK, but what's the point? What problem does this actually solve? Just because something is electronic doesn't make it better or more futuristic.

We don't add new tags every year, we keep the same tags and apply a new registration sticker. Why do we need a screen to replace a steel/plastic plate and a sticker? Who is too lazy to get a new sticker every year or two (an option) and do we really want to pander to someone like that? No, the answer is no.

Here's what will actually make things better: get rid of the registration stickers. Police cruisers already have cameras that can read license plates and run them through the state registration database, so stickers are unnecessary. Also, instead of annual DMV trips, include registration fees as part of the yearly state tax filings.

As for the other features, congrats! You've just invented OnStar.

Don't you have to pay extra for OnStar?

Some comments like these are exactly why companies like ring took off they didn't see the future for it and are now a billion dollar company. Turns out people like updated technology who knew.

[Derek‽]

Jul 8, 2023 18:02:26 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

Jul 8, 2023 17:56:55 GMT -8 Derek‽ said:

OK, but what's the point? What problem does this actually solve? Just because something is electronic doesn't make it better or more futuristic.

We don't add new tags every year, we keep the same tags and apply a new registration sticker. Why do we need a screen to replace a steel/plastic plate and a sticker? Who is too lazy to get a new sticker every year or two (an option) and do we really want to pander to someone like that? No, the answer is no.

Here's what will actually make things better: get rid of the registration stickers. Police cruisers already have cameras that can read license plates and run them through the state registration database, so stickers are unnecessary. Also, instead of annual DMV trips, include registration fees as part of the yearly state tax filings.

As for the other features, congrats! You've just invented OnStar.

Don't you have to pay extra for OnStar?

Some comments like these are exactly why companies like ring took off they didn't see the future for it and are now a billion dollar company. Turns out people like updated technology who knew.

Yes, there's a fee for OnStar and any other service, but the point was that the technology already exists. It's out there and it's common. You don't need an electronic license plate to use such a feature.

Ring is actually useful. It does something. It simplifies home security and makes it more accessible. (Much like OnStar, it's also a privacy nightmare in its own right! Investors refused to back it because they didn't think people were crazy enough to use it, but...) You haven't explained what a digital license plate does that's any better than what we have now. You're deflecting to additional features without justifying the core product. Tell us why we need a digital screen!

[Chris]

Hackers Gained Access To California’s Digital License Plates

Jan 8, 2023 22:00:00 GMT -8 gizmodo.com said:

Do license plates really need to be hard metal? It's 2023, after all, and at least three states in the US have answered that very question by legalizing digital license plates. California is the latest adopter of the technology, following Arizona, Michigan, and Texas in launching its own digital license plate program in October 2022. But residents should think twice before opting into the new technology.


In a blog post published last week, bug hunter Sam Curry noted that he and his friends had recently managed to attain “full super administrative access” to all of the user accounts linked to Reviver, the company responsible for selling California’s modernized plates.

Unfortunately, Reviver’s pricy, hi-tech solution also comes with some hi-tech problems. Curry and his friends investigated the Reviver app and website, discovering a vulnerability that allowed them to gain full administrative access to “all user accounts and vehicles for all Reviver connected vehicles.”

What could they do with that access? Among other things, they found they had the power to track the GPS locations of every single registered user, manipulate data on users’ plates, and even report specific vehicles as stolen (Reviver has an in-app feature that allows cars to be reported as stolen to authorities).

Let’s be honest: some things really don’t need to be digitized. As boring as it is, I think I’ll be sticking with non-hackable tags for the foreseeable future.

Jan 10, 2023 22:00:00 GMT -8 autoweek.com said:

The plates cost anywhere from $20 a month for the battery-powered version to $275 a year for the hardwired variant.

JUSTIN SULLIVAN//GETTY IMAGES

The team explained their hacking process in a thoroughly technical blog post and, while the developer jargon doesn't mean much to the average car owner, it's clear just how vulnerable these digital plates are.

Once the team established full administrative access, they could see the details of every user's account, including vehicle type and physical address. Every vehicle with a Reviver plate could also be tracked by GPS in real-time, and the hackers could change or add any slogan to the plate. Additionally, the security function of the plates that label the car as stolen could be abused, allowing hackers to mislabel the vehicle as stolen at a moment's notice.

JUSTIN SULLIVAN//GETTY IMAGES

Fleet management functions were also easy targets, with the hackers able to locate and manage all vehicles across a number of companies' fleets. This could become problematic for vehicles bearing dealer tags, as the hackers could easily wipe those identifications away. One of the most glaring issues found in the investigation was that consumer and commercial tags could be simply deleted by bad actors

[User 180565 is taking donation]

Jul 8, 2023 19:27:49 GMT -8 Chris said:

Hackers Gained Access To California’s Digital License Plates

Jan 8, 2023 22:00:00 GMT -8 gizmodo.com said:

Do license plates really need to be hard metal? It's 2023, after all, and at least three states in the US have answered that very question by legalizing digital license plates. California is the latest adopter of the technology, following Arizona, Michigan, and Texas in launching its own digital license plate program in October 2022. But residents should think twice before opting into the new technology.


In a blog post published last week, bug hunter Sam Curry noted that he and his friends had recently managed to attain “full super administrative access” to all of the user accounts linked to Reviver, the company responsible for selling California’s modernized plates.

Unfortunately, Reviver’s pricy, hi-tech solution also comes with some hi-tech problems. Curry and his friends investigated the Reviver app and website, discovering a vulnerability that allowed them to gain full administrative access to “all user accounts and vehicles for all Reviver connected vehicles.”

What could they do with that access? Among other things, they found they had the power to track the GPS locations of every single registered user, manipulate data on users’ plates, and even report specific vehicles as stolen (Reviver has an in-app feature that allows cars to be reported as stolen to authorities).

Let’s be honest: some things really don’t need to be digitized. As boring as it is, I think I’ll be sticking with non-hackable tags for the foreseeable future.

Jan 10, 2023 22:00:00 GMT -8 autoweek.com said:

The plates cost anywhere from $20 a month for the battery-powered version to $275 a year for the hardwired variant.

JUSTIN SULLIVAN//GETTY IMAGES

The team explained their hacking process in a thoroughly technical blog post and, while the developer jargon doesn't mean much to the average car owner, it's clear just how vulnerable these digital plates are.

Once the team established full administrative access, they could see the details of every user's account, including vehicle type and physical address. Every vehicle with a Reviver plate could also be tracked by GPS in real-time, and the hackers could change or add any slogan to the plate. Additionally, the security function of the plates that label the car as stolen could be abused, allowing hackers to mislabel the vehicle as stolen at a moment's notice.

JUSTIN SULLIVAN//GETTY IMAGES

Fleet management functions were also easy targets, with the hackers able to locate and manage all vehicles across a number of companies' fleets. This could become problematic for vehicles bearing dealer tags, as the hackers could easily wipe those identifications away. One of the most glaring issues found in the investigation was that consumer and commercial tags could be simply deleted by bad actors

Aw man a thief couldn't just walk up and unscrew plates? It would be a shame if theirs a record of your information on file and authorities would know something stolen or hacked into.

Check out all these other things that got hacked also

atlasvpn.com/blog/top-10-strange-things-that-got-hacked

[Chris]

Jul 8, 2023 19:56:43 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

Aw man a thief couldn't just walk up and unscrew plates? It would be a shame if theirs a record of your information on file and authorities would know something stolen or hacked into.

Check out all these other things that got hacked also

atlasvpn.com/blog/top-10-strange-things-that-got-hacked

Touché!

It never occurred to me to just give up and accept whatever I am being spoon-fed. I'm going to be hacked anyway so why fight it? Just jump in the deep end and accept the inevitable.

What a novel idea...

SPOILER: Click to show

[Craig]

Jul 8, 2023 17:56:55 GMT -8 Derek‽ said:

Jul 8, 2023 15:42:53 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

Not sure why this idea sounds amazing to me. Of course some planning and ideas to make digital screens legible and less fragile for the road would be needed. If we really want a future I think this is a good step. The industry wants electric vehicles so why not? With eSim like technology we could instantly add new yearly tags that would apply automatically, send out sos emergency to law enforcement and have features such as instant gps track in case our cars get stolen or goes off a ditch. With complete user control to enable or disable certain features. Of course theirs the issue with screen failure as well but that can be said for the same with cars having digital dashes already and TVs as headboards.

OK, but what's the point? What problem does this actually solve? Just because something is electronic doesn't make it better or more futuristic.

We don't add new tags every year, we keep the same tags and apply a new registration sticker. Why do we need a screen to replace a steel/plastic plate and a sticker? Who is too lazy to get a new sticker every year or two (an option) and do we really want to pander to someone like that? No, the answer is no.

Here's what will actually make things better: get rid of the registration stickers. Police cruisers already have cameras that can read license plates and run them through the state registration database, so stickers are unnecessary. Also, instead of annual DMV trips, include registration fees as part of the yearly state tax filings.

As for the other features, congrats! You've just invented OnStar.

I am assuming the registration sticker is the same as the road tax [ vehicle excise duty ]  we have in the UK?  A yearly fee to keep the car on the road.

In the UK, we did away with the annual chore of having to put a new tax disc in the window.  We do what you suggested.  The police cars are fitted with ANPR cameras, and actively check licence plates as they are driving around, and will flag up any cars that are not taxed or insured.  So instead of having to go to the post office each year to renew, and change the disc in the window, we simply have to make a payment online once a year.

Many cars now already have GPS, Trackers, SOS systems.  You don't need to have a digitised plate for them.  Like you, i don't see the point in digitising something just because it can be done.  It seems like a waste of resources, when a basic metal/plastic plate will do the job.  

[User 180565 is taking donation]

Jul 10, 2023 20:50:00 GMT -8 Chris said:

Jul 8, 2023 19:56:43 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

Aw man a thief couldn't just walk up and unscrew plates? It would be a shame if theirs a record of your information on file and authorities would know something stolen or hacked into.

Check out all these other things that got hacked also

atlasvpn.com/blog/top-10-strange-things-that-got-hacked

Touché!

It never occurred to me to just give up and accept whatever I am being spoon-fed. I'm going to be hacked anyway so why fight it? Just jump in the deep end and accept the inevitable.

What a novel idea...

SPOILER: Click to show

Your account here could be hacked at any given time it's not about giving in but the idea of what we can do to improve security. Newer cars already have sos features yes but what about those older cars? Should they be forced to pay monthly when we can have features already built in for them.

[Craig]

Jul 11, 2023 12:53:03 GMT -8 User 180565 is taking donation said:

Jul 10, 2023 20:50:00 GMT -8 Chris said:

Touché!

It never occurred to me to just give up and accept whatever I am being spoon-fed. I'm going to be hacked anyway so why fight it? Just jump in the deep end and accept the inevitable.

What a novel idea...

SPOILER: Click to show

Your account here could be hacked at any given time it's not about giving in but the idea of what we can do to improve security. Newer cars already have sos features yes but what about those older cars? Should they be forced to pay monthly when we can have features already built in for them.

Whether they pay a monthly subscription or not would be the same regardless of the implementation method, surely?  Things like trackers are usually subscription based because you will have a third party monitoring company that maintains the system and can be called upon when needed.  So the monthly cost is the same whether it is in a digital plate or somewhere else in the car.

Also, you still have the issue with them being older cars.  Newer cars would have the new digital licence plates installed, whereas older cars would need them retrofitted, at a considerable cost I would imagine to get it fully integrated.  And if you were to make it so they had to have digital plates, would that then be said to them to be forced to meet those costs?

[Nscalerr]

In Australia they did away with registration stickers long ago and now all we have to do is pay the rego fee online each year. Metal plates are far better than electronic ones I feel, one less thing to go wrong on the car!