edit: i guess the difference is you're not selling them the picture, you're providing it for free.
They're an inappropriate solution to the technical problem they were invented for now that the internet exists. It used to be that police had limited ways to verify ownership of a vehicle, and a simple state owned database with state issued numbers was a useful tool to solve this problem.
Now.. the police have internet connected mobile terminals. I'm not sure a "number plate" is the right solution to any part of this problem anymore.
Without license plates how are they to tell what that terminal is connect to which white Ford Bronco they are inquiring about? Do they have to actually stop every white Ford Bronco they see so they can read the VIN or get the driver's ID?
The plate numbers are the least likely to be correct and the least likely mechanism of finding the vehicle in question. The plate number will help you discriminate between two vehicles, but it does not aid in the search. Likewise police helicopters have no problem following specific vehicles even though the plates cannot be read.
So, you are imagining a situation where there are two identical suspects that cannot be discriminated from each other using all the above information and it will somehow come down to the plate, and without it, police will be unable to proceed correctly?
Is this actually any different from a suspect on foot or a bicycle or skateboard?
They are publicly available data. If the license plate is associated with OTHER PII it becomes a problem. However reading your license plate on the way into and out of a garage is just reading a publicly available code at different times of day. The fact that that code must always be displayed on your vehicle, and can be tied to your identity is an issue, but the code itself doesn't constitute PII.
Plate info is not public to average Jane and Joe.
In a State in USA I tried to get owner info of a plate marked 'gvt' and was denied because DMV said I'm not a private investigator or something.
On the other hand, if there’s no way to connect a person to a license plate number without access to the DMV database, then that is not obviously an issue.
What I drive are owned by trusts and LLCs, so on paper they are not connected to my driver license nor to me.
While I understand that cars are designed to be mobile and therefore easy to move around when stolen, I don't understand the necessity of a big plate with unique numbers. I don't have that on my bicycles.
If plates reduce theft, let the insurance companies and manufacturers work that out.