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Digital licence plates in California can track your location

June 5th, 2018  |  Canadian Business

Digital licence plates; we’ve finally evolved, people!

These new plates, receiving a trail-run in California this month, will apparently make it easier for people who don’t want to wait in line at places like the DMV for vehicle registration. Reviver Auto, an innovative car platform, is the only company currently making or selling these new digital licence plates in the state, according to CBC.

"You now have an opportunity to be able to do your registration for your vehicle over an app and then you can have it uploaded right in real time on your vehicle," said Reviver co-founder Neville Boston in an interview on As It Happens.

"You don't have to put stickers on your car anymore and you don't have to wait for it in the mail. So it helps us simplify that process."

What about privacy?

The new digital plates use the same type of electronic ink technology you see on eBook readers such as Kindle or Kobo. The ink is able to change digitally to display emergency messages. If you can image an eBook sideways displaying a licence plate image, that's exactly what it looks like. There is also a wireless communication system installed on the plates.

The plates are also able to display advertisements. Boston, in response to a distracted driving concern, claimed the plates will only display alternate messages “when the vehicle is legally parked.”

The idea that police and corporate companies are able to track the movement of a vehicle is another concern for many.

Stephanie Lacambra, an attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, explained that one’s “locational history has the potential to reveal a lot more than… where you happen to be at a particular moment … It can reveal your associations, who you speak with, where you go to work, where you live,” and likely much more.

Boston has been assuring drivers that their data is stored in a secure, encrypted space while users can decide whether they want to opt in or out of location sharing. He compares it to a secure banking network. The information is not to be shared with law enforcement, insurance companies, or DMV personnel.

"If there is a subpoena or something of that nature, then we would have to, I believe, comply," Boston admitted.