Digital license plates that change displays and track your car

Not sure where to post this I also searched and did not find it's been posted yet , This is crazy if it goes into effect I can just picture the plate displaying "Active Warrant"

A futuristic digital license plate that can change its display and track the vehicle that it’s attached to is being tested on California roads. Over 100 of the high-tech tags are already in use as part of a pilot program, and now Sacramento has become the first city to add them to its municipal fleet. The Sacramento Bee reports that the city government took delivery last week of 24 Chevrolet Volts equipped with the plates, which are priced at $699 each, but were provided at no cost by the manufacturer, Reviver Auto, for evaluation. The plates use e-ink screens like e-books, and are equipped with a GPS tracker that can transmit the location of the vehicle. They have a reflective surface, backlighting, weatherproofing and are hardwired to the car. Reviver Auto says that the technology conforms to the General Data Protection Regulation standards, and that the tracking and display features are controlled by each plate’s owner. Sacramento Innovation Officer Louis Stewart said that the city is assuring labor representatives that it won’t use them to monitor individual employees. Reviver Auto VP of Marketing Bobby Penn told Fox News that the telematics data will never be shared with the DMV or law enforcement, and promises that the company will not sell any information to outside companies. No personal data is stored in the device itself. Users can modify the display with custom messages via an app and electronically update their registration without the need for a sticker or visit to the DMV. They’re being marketed as a fleet management tool for commercial outfits that can double as a promotional platform, as the screens can display company branding and advertisements when the vehicles are parked, while still showing the plate number in a smaller font. Along with the convenience factor, a pitch to retail customers is that they are the ultimate vanity plate, with the potential to update them on a whim to show support for causes or sports teams, or simply to project a personal message for the day. Owners can also have the plates display the word “stolen” if their cars go missing, while emergency messages, like amber alerts and flood warnings, can be blasted to all of the devices in an affected area in an effort to reach other motorists. Penn says that future functionality being worked on includes automatic toll and parking payments. A $7 monthly fee is required, with additional costs for the GPS tracking feature. One retailer, Galpin Motors in Van Nuys, is offering three-year plans priced at $189 and $279, respectively, plus $99 for installation. A conventional license plate with the traditional registration sticker needs to be kept with the car during the trial. California requires front plates, so owners can mount one there instead of getting two of the digital devices. In the event that the DMV program is abandoned, any of the Reviver Auto plates still in circulation will be grandfathered in permanently, according to Galpin. (Update: After initially not responding to a question regarding how long the plates would be active, the California DMV reached out to Fox News after publication of this article to say that they would not be grandfathered in permanently, but did not provide a timeline for the phase out of thier use.) Consumer sales are scheduled to begin on June 1, and Galpin says interest and demand have been strong, but a California DMV spokesperson told Fox News that there were just 116 of the units in operation as of May 22. The program will allow up to 175,000 vehicles to be equipped with the plates during the evaluation period, which ends on Jan 1, 2019. A report is due to follow no later than July 1, 2020. The Arizona Department of Transportation is also testing the plates on a dozen of its state-owned vehicles.

Plate

Well, it seems cool, but I don't want my license plate fee to go from $12 to $1000 for a fancy LED wireless plate.

a reply to: Gargoyle91

Good bye privacy

a reply to: Invision123

If you have any electronic devices in your home or on your person your privacy is already gone!

I think this is a great idea. We're already being tracked with our phones, this is different. It could actually be useful and the 2 examples given seem worthwhile.

Other than cost, what's the problem?

a reply to: Gargoyle91

Wow, I'd normally expect something like this to be trialed in the UK first, I'm almost jealous, your police state is overtaking us lol

No, thanks I don't need it.

And if they make us do it, I'm not paying $300 plus a $100 installation. In fact, if it ever becomes mandatory that we have to be tracked by these, they better waive the current lic plate fee that's just a piece of aluminum.

But if the maker of these lobbies the government to change them and make them mandatory, rest assured it will cost more than it does now.

We need privacy laws enforced now. We need the privacy laws Obama stole back.

It seriously feels like there is an invading force in the country.

Like some psycho Nazi-grade electronic police state utopia creeps.

a reply to: Gargoyle91

All fun and games till a perp dips the cops but they can't track him because a weather emergency was broadcast during the chase.

originally posted by: jjkenobi
Well, it seems cool, but I don't want my license plate fee to go from $12 to $1000 for a fancy LED wireless plate.

Don't come to Canada, it's way above $12. Our parasitic government hits us up for $124 a year. What a great way to sneak in a tax eh?

Cheers - Dave

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

ANPR is all over my City under tbe guise of traffic management. Same horse.

a reply to: Cymru

Haha I get ya mate!
I can get out of town and use B roads to travel hundreds of miles here without being picked up, I could even get to your parts but I'd have to drive all the way to Gloucester area to cross the Severn though.

EDIT
If I was up to no good though I'd just buy clone plates online from Ireland...they don't ask for documentation lol, easy to do just copy the plates of the same model car.

I'm actually looking forward to these.

You know there'll be market for those that can...alter what's being displayed and I'm really looking forward to all the cool things that cool people will do with them.

a reply to: Gargoyle91

These would be soo so awesome if you could control them to say things like
"back off F*cker"
"nice car"
"slow the F down"
"H3ll0 there"

a reply to: AScrubWhoDied

Someone will hack them for sure, like 'free' satelite TV people get in the UK by paying someone dodgy £150.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: Gargoyle91

These would be soo so awesome if you could control them to say things like
"back off F*cker"
"nice car"
"slow the F down"
"H3ll0 there"

I have one of those rolling led signs in the back of my truck. I even have it programmed to display, "There's no coffee or donuts in here, don't bother pulling me over." It was only about $80 through eBay and even came with a remote.

Cheers - Dave

a reply to: bobs_uruncle

I've always wanted to do that, just never got round to it.

originally posted by: Antipathy17
a reply to: Gargoyle91

All fun and games till a perp dips the cops but they can't track him because a weather emergency was broadcast during the chase.

Umm, you really think that with such a high level of tech the only indicator would be visual? I'm pretty sure that the plates could easily transmit to cops receivers so even if it's displaying a visual weather warning, it's lighting up a nearby cop car sensor with whatever message it needs to.

a reply to: RMFX1

And you think criminals wont disable or spoof it?

a reply to: Antipathy17

Maybe a tiny percentage involved in government sized schemes. You know what encryption is right? Do you know how far we've come?

So no, I don't think a car theif would be disabling it.