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I've heard from a person who works in the civilian section of the traffic enforcement - that while some of the products/tactics being used to obscure plates work against the automated numberplate reading software, that he's never seen one that wouldn't be obvious enough from visial instection, fail for a human operator with a photoshop-like image tweaking interface - he says they can _always_ get enough of a plate to match up with vehicle make/model/colour details.

He says the only thing he sees that "works" is flip-up plate holders on motorcycles - and that when they see them, the photos get distributed to the local police who the have a "vehicle of interest" notice for that make/model/colour bike (and jacket/helmet).



I'm not sure how kindly the law would look at you using the plate obscuring products, but these products could be a privacy measure if they are ineffective against law enforcement. The idea being once there is a human involved, the cost goes up. This would drive up the minimum price that these private companies could sell their services for.




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