The debate over that weird website that logs every license plate in my town

I found this site last week that just lists license plates spotted in parking lots around Gary, Indiana. No ads, no point, just plate numbers and timestamps. The guy who runs it told me in an email he started it because he was bored during a 6-month shift at a dead-end security job. We argued for 20 minutes about whether it's creepy or just innocent boredom. I say it crosses a line into stalking territory, but he insists it's no worse than a bus schedule. Has anyone else stumbled onto a site like this where you can't tell if it's harmless or just wrong?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylor.betty16d ago

Wait is this the same kind of thing as that site that just posts grainy photos of people's driveways in like Ohio? I stumbled onto one once and spent way too long trying to figure out if it was some art project or just some guy with too much time on his hands and a weird camera. Honestly the plate number thing feels super specific and pointless, like why bother tracking that unless you're planning something shady. I get the boredom factor from a dead end job, but a bus schedule at least helps people, this just feels like collecting data for no good reason.

stellat8714d ago

Oh man I found something similar last year but it was for cars parked at rest stops on I-90. Not plates just like make and model and color. Kept getting weirder the more I scrolled because the guy listed which ones had dented bumpers or cracked windshields too. I called him out in the comments and he got super defensive said it was for "vehicle sociology" whatever that means. Honestly feels like surveillance culture got so weird people don't even notice they're doing it anymore. Like congrats you cataloged my neighbors Subaru congrats I guess?