Daily Archives: 2022-10-13

Article note: This is the dumbest solution-looking-for-a-problem bullshit. In exchange for ... not needing an envelope and stamp every year or so... you get an expensive fallible electronic device provided by a useless rent-seeking middle-man which has a bunch of unnecessary connected features to turn it into a privacy problem, a hacking problem, a counterfeiting/veracity problem...

Enlarge / Reviver's e-ink license plate works with a smartphone app. (credit: Reviver)

Digital license plates that can display information other than a car's license plate number are now legal for all vehicles in California. At the end of September, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 984 into law, which makes the e-ink displays a legal alternative to the traditional metal plate. The move comes after a successful 2018 pilot program—one that Ars tested out at the time.

The revised legislation sets out the conditions for using an e-ink plate (referred to in the bill as an "alternative device"). For example, a malfunctioning digital license plate would be a correctable violation—the law also requires "a process for frequent notification" if the digital plate breaks or needs replacing. And altering, forging, counterfeiting, or other hacking of the plates will be a felony.

"As a member of the California Legislative Technology and Innovation Caucus, I am thrilled to build upon the past successes of the Legislature that first implemented this program. AB 984 strikes a necessary balance between innovation and privacy while digitizing the only thing on our cars today that remains antiquated, license plates," said California Assemblymember Lori Wilson, who co-authored the bill.