The CB1100 Community Forum

This may be a very short thread as the answer might be very logical, swift, and undeniable, but I need to know.

Why is it that everywhere I look, from craigslist, to online pictures, or this forum, that people hide their license plate (cars, trucks, motorcycles, trailers) by either putting a baseball cap over it, or a sock, or blur it out digitally? Besides the home state, and if you current on your registration, what crucial information does it give away, and what's the dangers? I don't think that just about anyone can figure out your address/where you park your baby, by looking at the plate number, except for the police, and the DMV of course. Or is that the point, so the police won't know what bike they're looking out from a picture, because you've got illegal stuff on it? Mine is always in the garage anyway, but that's besides the point. Then there are those who run personalized license plates, and are proud to show them, such as I. My car reads U2LIVE (I'm a big U2 fan), my Triumph Scrambler reads MI6, and my CB reads CBLGND. Well obviously I'm not scared to share, but I might be once you're finished with this thread. So why do people hide their license plate again?

Paranoia

Good question, Ghis; I'm not sure there's a simple answer.

Like you, I can't see any great harm in displaying it. Unless, of course, the photo tends to prove you were somewhere you shouldn't have been at the time it was taken. Methinks it may not only be law enforcement interested in that. In part, I think, it's part of a modern view of what privacy requires: you shouldn't display personal information. If that's right, it's entirely a personal choice. Maybe some people don't want their bikes recognised by anyone.

The more important question is probably what you do when you come to post photos of someone else's number plate. Modern protocol ay well require that you either seek their permission to display it or take steps to obscure it.

fair enough question, I have wondered the same thing, even though I am in IT where we de-identify everything, still felt foolish blurring my plate in a few pictures I posted:-) My vanity plate is now "CB11" we have a 5 digit limit so could not do 1100 all the way.

So, in [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=3268&pid=95320#pid95320]this post, Seabee posts a picture with a bit of gaffer tape over the middle of his plate.

Seabee, respectfully, would you mind explaining why you felt the need to do it?

You have all got me thinking now and there really is no particular reason. I guess with all the technology and things you here about on the internet it's just a way to ensure no undesirable characters can trace the license plate to my home address or so my license number cannot be used anywhere else online.
If anyone has any thoughts on this I would be interested to hear them.
I did see somewhere (don't think it was on this forum) that some bodies avatar photo turned up on a Google search for an item. There are some clever but not altogether good things in cyberspace and I only want to be part of the honest friendly interaction that I have experienced here with the CB community.

It is a good question Ghis. I am with ferret in assuming it is paranoia stemming from all the privacy breeches we hear on the news, movies, and Snowden like cases. Nowadays, it is very easy to find all kinds of information on the net. Unlike Cormanus the question I'd be asking is ¿why add more information voluntarily?
Imagine posting a picture of your license plate via Instagram who automatically tags your location? That's a doozy.

Talking about license plates. I witness Pterodactyl taking pictures of some at the rally. What was his intention? And to what end? Now I am really worried.

The only reason to hide your tag is to keep it separate from you. If some idiot wants to be a coward and damage my property to get at me, I don't want to make it easy for him to distinguish my CB from any other guy's.

I think its a mistaken belief that someone could find out your address and other personal info from having someone run your plate.
The truth is, it would have to be someone in law enforcement to do that and if they did so for non-official police business, they would lose their job and be charged with a crime that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail.

Maybe I just feel that as a naked bike she should have some level of decency when I take a photo of her butt