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Original poster

AIBU to post this car registration here

5 replies

Mybestusername · 24/10/2017 14:46

Or am I becoming too obsessed with Mumsnet?!

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MNHQ

DawnMumsnet · 24/10/2017 16:07

Afternoon all,

We know this is only a bit of fun, but we've had a few reports come in saying that it's not really okay to post a pic like this - it can be a bit of a security risk for whoever owns this car.

OP, we're afraid we're going to have to take the thread down. Without the pic, there's not much point! Sorry.

MNHQ

DawnMumsnet · 24/10/2017 16:22

@MovingOnUpMovingOnOut

How is it a security risk? We have no idea where the car is or who owns it.

That's the thing, though. All this info can be looked up online by unscrupulous types, both legally and illegally. Even Google Street View blurs licence plates these days, which is why we have to step in here. It's only okay to post a pic like this if you have the owner's consent, which we're assuming the OP doesn't have.

Sorry folks, we're not trying to spoil the fun.

MNHQ

DawnMumsnet · 24/10/2017 16:37

@OrlandoMusc

I can see about 8 number plates from my living room window that I have no idea who owns. How exactly are those cars at risk?

Clearly you don't remember this reprobate.

Ooh, The Numbertaker. That's a blast from the past. My kids were all terrified of him...

Anyway, here's a quote from just one of the sites we've looked this up on -

"If you’re one of those car fanatics who often finds themselves on motoring websites, it may have come to your attention that car registrations are often blocked out or pixelated so as not to show the numbers and letters on the plates. And it isn’t just when the car – or the person in it – has been involved in a crime. So why does this happen?

Getting Consent

If, for some reason, you’re posting a photo online that includes someone else’s car registration, it’s usually fine as long as you have that person’s consent. Although number plates are in the public domain (a fact taken advantage of by Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson when he tweets the registrations of bad drivers he sees on the road), it is often frowned upon to give away anyone’s number plate without their knowledge – including if they’re just in the background of photographs posted to Facebook or Twitter."

MNHQ

DawnMumsnet · 24/10/2017 17:02

@MovingOnUpMovingOnOut

Even on the quoted link (from some blokes back bedroom in Telford) it says it's fine to post so long as it's just sitting there.

Such nannying nonsense from MNHQ. Disappointing.

Blimey, we have a tough crowd in today!

Slightly miffed to see that not one of the many MNers who reported this thread has jumped to our defence here... Anyway, yes, you caught us red handed - we sometimes resort to trawling the internet when we don't know the answers. And yes, maybe we were being a trifle heavy handed here.