Digital license plates sold by Reviver, already legal to buy in some states and drive with nationwide, can be hacked by their owners to evade traffic regulations or even law enforcement surveillance.

Digital license plates sold by Reviver, already legal to buy in some states and drive with nationwide, can be hacked by their owners to evade traffic regulations or even law enforcement surveillance.

  • @[email protected]English
    3•2 days ago

    I mean, it is also pretty trivial to just steal a license plate. Or even to put a decal on the back of your license plate to make that 9 into an 8 and so forth.

    The reality is the same as with a digital one. If your number is for a stolen car or an amber alert, you are gonna have a bad time. Otherwise? You are fine for a red light camera. You are fucked once the cop pulls you over and wants to see your license and registration and realizes the plate doesn’t match. You can MAYBE try to argue the cop misread your license plate while you switch it back but they also have a camera pointed at your car while that is happening (don’t worry, they’ll lose the footage if they decide to shoot or assault you).

    • nickwitha_k (he/him)English
      3•2 days ago

      APR systems also exist and are installed in a good portion of police cars. Likely to get flagged if the plate and make/model do not match.

      • @[email protected]English
        2•2 days ago

        There are a lot of misconceptions regarding how effective the automated scanners are.

        In theory? Yes, you can compare the license plate against the make and model and even color of the car. And there are plenty of demos of exactly that.

        In reality? It is almost never used outside of something completely egregious like “This says this is a sedan but that is actually a giant semi truck”. Because cars just aren’t distinct enough for this to be reliable enough to justify the cop brushing the donut off their stomaches, trying to remember where they left their gun, and tapping on a window.

        What it IS good for is checking for plates that have an APB out on them (so the amber alert scenario) and making up a bullshit excuse for why a black person’s car needs to be checked.