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Would You Pay $700, Plus a Monthly Fee, For a Digital License Plate? (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: It's been a few weeks now since a Bay Area startup put a digital license plate on my car. So far, nobody seems to have noticed. I haven't yet been pulled aside by police or civilians asking what it is. At first glance, this electronic device looks exactly like a traditional, stamped metal license plate. The new digital plate has the same scripted CALIFORNIA icon up top and uses the exact same size and font to show the numbers and letters. But in actuality, what I have is an "Rplate," a $700 plate-sized Kindle-like screen on the back of my car -- high-contrast grayscale e-ink and all. The device also contains an RFID and GPS chip that allow me to see where my car is at any given moment, to voluntarily track my trips, and to even optionally display DMV-approved customized messages in a small font below the plate number itself.
Were I an actual paying customer, I'd be paying $7 per month in a service fee, too, mostly to offset the data connection to Verizon. The one-time $700 price tag alone is a bit high for me. To be clear, I have a loaner model, and by the time this story comes out, I'll soon be sending the plate back to the company, Reviver. The model I've been using is one of the first 1,000 such plates that are legally out on California roads right now. Still, after my experience of a few weeks, there's no clear and compelling case to be made as to why most of us non-rich individuals need this fancy plate. Also, there are still unanswered questions about its security and what it means to voluntarily hand over so much personal location data to a single company.
Were I an actual paying customer, I'd be paying $7 per month in a service fee, too, mostly to offset the data connection to Verizon. The one-time $700 price tag alone is a bit high for me. To be clear, I have a loaner model, and by the time this story comes out, I'll soon be sending the plate back to the company, Reviver. The model I've been using is one of the first 1,000 such plates that are legally out on California roads right now. Still, after my experience of a few weeks, there's no clear and compelling case to be made as to why most of us non-rich individuals need this fancy plate. Also, there are still unanswered questions about its security and what it means to voluntarily hand over so much personal location data to a single company.
NO.
Hell No.
Like *Pay ME* to wear it. You know - like like.
... optionally display DMV-approved customized messages in a small font below the plate number itself.
"Sucker on board."
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
I would get one of these, if it let switch between other license plates that weren't registered in my name.
Why would anyone do this?
You not only agree to be tracked everywhere you drive, but you pay $700 plus a monthly fee for the privilege? Are you sure you heard them right?
Seriously... Free e-ink display!! I would totally steal your number plate.
I just need like 20 plates to make one big screen. Then I can read my kindle from my sofa whilst it's on my wall. Perfect.
I don't understand. Why would anyone do this?
Well today I had the experience that would encourage many to embrace this new high tech solution. Today I had to find a screw driver and remove the four screws securing the license and its frame to the car. I had to wipe the license with a wet towel to remove some of the grime before putting a new registration sticker on top of the old, then going through the misery of aligning screws with threads four times to reattach everything.
All of this annual ugliness could be performed much more elegantly digitally. The DMV charges my credit card, the charge clears, it then could send an updated registration sticker image to the digital plate for its display.
$700 at time of car purchase and $84 a year thereafter, worth it to avoid the preceding messiness.
Bay area startup high on crystal meth going out of business in 3...2...1.
Rplate Pro users can rest assured that their data â" especially usage/telematics information â" is never shared with the DMV, law enforcement, or any other third party.
Telematics data is not uploaded to Reviver Autoâ(TM)s US-based cloud infrastructure and is not available when the user turns off the functionality from their app or our Rconnect website. The telematics data belongs to the user and is never sold to third parties.
ZOMG Finally a company who respects their customers!!1!!!!!!
Now lets go see what their real privacy policy has to say about this:
We may collect a variety of information from the products that are deployed on your vehicle, via remote access, during our delivery or receipt of content or information to your products, or during in-person service, including:
Data regarding the performance, usage, operation, and condition of the products, including product serial number, geographical location.
Trip logs, including start / end times for trips
We may use information that we collect through the product and services for a variety of purposes, including
To send you promotional material or special offers on our behalf or on behalf of our marketing partners
We may use or share information that does not personally identify you, including, as examples, de-identified or anonymized data, for any purpose
We may disclose your information to third parties in order to comply with a legal obligation (including, but not limited to, subpoenas and warrants);
Shocked disbelief... what ... a surprise... didn't see THAT coming...
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Is the government wants to know if you would pay $700 for an electric e-ink plate. That would allow them to track your vehicle for per mile taxing, and disable your license plate if your car is:
a) stolen (plate changes to the word STOLEN), useful for the first year until thieves simply start using their own plates.
b) EXPIRED - yup, if your inspection, emissions or registration expire, that is what your plate will read so cops pull you over quickly.
c) Behind on your taxes? Likely display a similar alert.
d) Insurance? Cause how long until the state wants the insurance company to send status alerts to them and your plated changes to UNINSURED. Pulled over again, even though your payment went thru - the system just didn't get updated over the 3-day weekend.
e) Benefit? You paid $700 for about a $100 of technology. Basically a Kindle + GPS marker. What other benefit is there for you? NONE...
This all benefits the state....
What's changed since '75 ?
Immigration.
You think immigration is the only think to have changed since 1975? I'm not even sure that's true. Has immigration changed since 1975? I can't be bothered to find out. But the fact that you jump to that idea says a lot about you.
Don't let fear control you. Look for ways you can make positive changes in your life to bring you more happiness or satisfaction. There have been and always will be immigrants. They are not your problem. Even if we closed all the borders and didn't let anyone in, your life would be largely the same. That's because your problem is your own mentality and outlook. But that's good news! You can change your outlook and see things differently if you choose to. You can't really do much about immigrants, except bitch about them on the Internet. So focus on yourself and what you are thinking and feeling. Any change in your life starts with you.
"What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)