Google is watching.

"Chinny Raccoon" (chinnyraccoon) 01/18/2019 at 14:40 • Filed to: None

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Something I found interesting, it appears that google is using OCR in it’s image searches. I’ve only noticed it recently ( searching for something that I now can’t remember). 

Works well on plates. 

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Chinny Raccoon 01/18/2019 at 14:46

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It works on my plate too, but not as effective as on yours, just a few hit (and it only recognises it when I replace the dashes by spaces, which probably causes all the other results)

Funnily enough I get none for your plate? So it might be location ba sed too

WilliamsSW > Chinny Raccoon 01/18/2019 at 14:47

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They definitely are. If I google my license plate number (which is just random digits assigned by Illinois) , one of the top returns is a photo of the back of my car that I posted to Oppo.

duurtlang > Chinny Raccoon 01/18/2019 at 14:47

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Interesting. I can find both my street-legal cars on there. Only from my own (or oppo-meet) pictures though, all of them from oppo .

I’m not entirely sure what I should think of this feature. I prefer to keep online and offline life separate, unless when I chose to.

Chinny Raccoon > duurtlang 01/18/2019 at 14:56

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I’m also ambivalent . I guess it could be an untended consequence of using OCR for images of text documents -a useful feature- but as plates are designed to be read by cameras they get swept up in it as well. 

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > duurtlang 01/18/2019 at 14:56

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It seems to be mainly kinja pictures, damnit kinja!

I’m not too worried that my plates can be found online, however, the fact that this makes it easy to find pictures of my Twingo on the ‘Ring makes me slightly worried. I remember reading about people being denied insurance/having to pay more after having pictures of their car on the ‘Ring

Chinny Raccoon > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 01/18/2019 at 14:57

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As with many things G oogle it probably varies heavily between individual users.

fintail > Chinny Raccoon 01/18/2019 at 14:58

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Funny.  I find a pic of the fintail taken by someone ~10 years ago.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Chinny Raccoon 01/18/2019 at 15:01

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Impressive algorithm too.

It figured out this low res photo was of my car. Not many photos of mine though, probably because I don't post many photos of it.

Chinny Raccoon > WilliamsSW 01/18/2019 at 15:01

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The Kinja platform is probably one of the larger ‘Social’ sites that does appear in the google images results. 

FSI > Chinny Raccoon 01/18/2019 at 15:07

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Found nothing linked to my plates but apparently one of my posts was translated to German and reposted?!

Seems like Oppo content just gets blatantly reposted there? Wtf

WilliamsSW > Chinny Raccoon 01/18/2019 at 15:07

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Good point - I hadn’t really thought of that, but you’re right.  

Milky > Chinny Raccoon 01/18/2019 at 15:17

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No shit. D on’t know how I feel about that, but definitely didn’t know.

I also like how google can recognize that Crossfire booty.  

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > FSI 01/18/2019 at 15:20

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uPost has harvested most of Kinja and translated it into a bunch of different languages.

FSI > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 01/18/2019 at 15:22

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Someone posted about that site a few months back. 

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > FSI 01/18/2019 at 15:26

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One of the E9xM3s found it originally I believe.

diplodicus forgot his password > Chinny Raccoon 01/18/2019 at 15:31

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Doesn’t bring mine up even though I know my license plate has been posted on here.

Cé hé sin > Chinny Raccoon 01/18/2019 at 15:31

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Yes, I Googled my car by its previous UK number and found it!

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > Chinny Raccoon 01/18/2019 at 15:42

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I noticed this when I searched for my old  BMW. I found an entire restoration thread that just abruptly stopped, which was a shame

duurtlang > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 01/18/2019 at 16:16

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Exactly! Without this feature someone would have to know your  Oppo handle to find it. Which an insurer would never know. With this feature though, it suddenly becomes super easy.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > Chinny Raccoon 01/18/2019 at 16:44

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This is making me want to go bu y some foil...

Of my vehicles the only ones I can’t find are my current daily (I live in a place that doesn’t use front plates and I must only have posted front 3/4 photos ) and one that I never registered, and the only photos I’ve taken with the PO’s plates on it have been at fairly steep angles that would make it tricky for a computer to read. I’ve only had it on the road with temp permits that require pulling existing plates. The Niva and both MJs show up, and it’s the newer MJ that bugs me most, because despite being registered and insured it hasn’t spent much time on the road at all in the four months I’ve had it, and the photo that comes up is a fairly recent one where I was taking a photo of the taillight and the plate is only visible in the very corner of the photo.

I don’t really have much to logically complain about, and in a way it’s sorta cool to be able to find my vehicles in other people’s photos, but it’s a strange sort of feeling, “ They’re watching me!” And it's probably going to make me more conscious of how I distribute photos of other people's cars now. 

pip bip - choose Corrour > Chinny Raccoon 01/19/2019 at 05:10

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i typed my rego in 166GP

nothing, closest that comes up is

same make/model/year/colour car in South Africa

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Chinny Raccoon 01/21/2019 at 11:16

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Geez... so maybe the thumb-blocker folks were right all along! 

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > duurtlang 01/21/2019 at 11:20

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Do not like. The thumb-blocker folks were right all along! 

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > WilliamsSW 01/21/2019 at 11:21

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Dislike!

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Milky 01/21/2019 at 11:23

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Means if you accidentally cut off some psycho in traffic, they could hypothetically track you down...

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Chinny Raccoon 01/21/2019 at 11:30

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Couldn’t find any of my cars, but did find a car that I shared to OPPO from my local “spotted” Fb page. Definitely will be obscuring my license plate (and anyone else’s) in the future. 

Milky > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 01/21/2019 at 11:30

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They could do it IRL too though. Its not like I’m posting on oppo with my  address.

WilliamsSW > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 01/21/2019 at 12:13

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Totally agree!! Kinda freaked me out when I tried it.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Milky 01/21/2019 at 13:28

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Lots of people aren’t smart enough to turn off location info on the camera on their cell phone ... if someone takes a picture of thei r car in thei r driveway and posts it somewhere online with the geotags intact...

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > WilliamsSW 01/21/2019 at 13:36

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Thankfully, my plates don’t get results, but some “famous” supercars from around town definitely show up with a search like this.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > duurtlang 01/24/2019 at 15:34

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Can I just say thank you for continuing to maintain Oppositeblog. It’s my go-to over Oppositelock now - mainly for the quality of posts, but also because I’m tired of what Oppo has become and can’t be bothered to sift through the shit and mire to get to the good stuff. So thanks man. You are doing sterling work.

-4muddyfeet

duurtlang > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 01/24/2019 at 16:16

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I agree. It’s so much better.

Reminds me to step up. I don’t share much any more.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > duurtlang 01/24/2019 at 16:31

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Just keep it in the back of your mind - thanks for the help!