DVLA forces Auto Trader to change its iPhone app

Auto Trader has been forced to remove a key feature from its iPhone app, just two weeks after it was released.

The DVLA has a problem with the image recognition element of the app, which allows users to take a photo of car number plates and get results from dealers selling that make and model.

The DVLA says that this feature conflicts with its ethical code, as it allows users to capture images of vehicle registration plates, even though cameras and most mobile phones are capable of doing the same thing.

"The application draws only on publically available information and does not release owner details or information on where a vehicle is registered. However, we take consumer security extremely seriously and so have happily agreed to comply with the DVLA's request. As a result, from the 30th March, the 'snap' function will be removed from the app." Said the Auto Trader.

It's a puzzling move as the app provides no information other than the make and model of the car photographed, and since there are plenty of other mobile services which use number plate information, such as the vehicle text check services which are commonly advertised.

It robs the app and its users of a valuable function, one which worked well and that also provided an added 'wow factor' for the app, though perhaps, if the image is the problem, Auto Trader can replace this with the option to type in plate numbers to achieve the same result. On the face of it, this seems to be an odd decision on the part of the DVLA.




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60 number plates on sale now

The 60 series of registrations can now be bought from DVLA Registrations in readiness for when they can legally be used on our roads on September 1, 2010.

The new 60 series opens up a great deal of personalised number plates like BA60OON, AS60 ---, CY60RGS, etc.

Prospective buyers have been able to sift through the millions of combinations available through DVLA Personalised Registrations website for the past month.

More good news for those interested is DVLA Personalised Registrations' is that the 'open sale' period also ensures that every new style combination is available for the month of June, with the exception of those plates destined for auction.



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Number plate SOLO ACT for just 2850 pounds!

A retired car dealer has shown how he has gone it alone in the world of business by placing the winning bid on the DVLA Personalised Registration, SO10 ACT.

Kane Ronald bought the private plates to show people how he fought back the critics to become one of Hampshire's most prolific car salesman.

"I've gone it alone all my life and so I thought this registration was a great way of telling people my story." Said the 67 year old from Lyndhurst.

Kane's story is a real rags to riches tale, he started his working life as a humble car salesman but worked tirelessly to eventually own his successful business.

He added. "People always told me to settle down and stop dreaming about the big time. But I refused to listen and worked hard for the finer things in life. You should never give up on your dreams no matter how many people tell you otherwise."

Ronald walked away from the Whittlebury Hall auction with a smile after buying the personalised registration for just 2,850 pounds.



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ESS3X number plate sells for 6,520 pounds at DVLA auction

A mystery buyer from Chelmsford snapped up the personalised registration ESS 3X for a bargain price of 6,520 pounds.

Immediately after securing the number plates with a final bid of 5,100 pounds, the delighted Essex based man declared he would have spent another 15,000 pounds in order to get his ideal plate. The total amount paid includes VAT, Buyers Premium and Assignment Fee.

The sale came during the climax of DVLA Personalised Registrations' first day of its latest auction currently being held at Whittlebury Hall, Northamptonshire. At the end of the day the agency had raised 1.2 million, with all money going to the Treasury.

"Both DVLA and the customer are both extremely happy with the result. Managing to raise a sum seven times its reserve is a tremendous achievement, and to hear our customer is delighted to have bought a bargain is music to my ears." said Damian Lawson, DVLA Personalised Registrations' Marketing Manager.

The mystery purchaser of the ESS 3X plate, said: "I'm absolutely delighted. I've bought numerous registrations from the DVLA over the years and I expected to pay a lot more than 6,520 pounds for this one, in fact I had another 15,000 pounds to spend!"

While the ESS 3X registrations will probably make the headlines, 1 EPS was the greatest success of the day, fetching just short of 20,000 pounds.


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Three of the coolest number plates in history go under the hammer! (And you get 007's DB5 thrown in!)

RM Auction is putting a great car up for auction, this time a 1964 Aston Martin DB5, which is an actual James Bond car! This car with the registration plate FMP 7B has been a property of Mr.Jerry Lee for over 40 years. He had bought the car from the film company for $12,000, and now it's expected to fetch over $5 million!

This DB5 is a full blooded Bond car. It has Front and rear hydraulic over rider rams on bumpers; Front firing .30 caliber Browning machine guns powered by trunk mounted oxy/propane system; Wheel mounted tire slasher; Retractable rear bullet-proof screen; Radio telephone concealed in secret compartment; Radar scanner in racing type wing mirror with tracking screen in the cockpit; Passenger ejector seat with removable roof panel (seat since replaced with standard seat); Oil slick ejector from left side rear light cluster; Triple spiked nails from the right side rear light cluster; Smoke screen released through separate rear system, located next to rear exhaust and most importantly; Three revolving number plates featuring licenses YRE 186H, 007JB and JB007.

Not that all of these things actually work on this car, but there they are! And the coolest thing is they're all hidden away normally.

"The James Bond car has brought me much enjoyment for some 40 years," said Jerry Lee. "Even as I sell it and use the proceeds to fund the Jerry Lee Foundation, the car will continue to give me great pleasure as it furthers the mission of the Foundation to do good around the world."





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DVLA hoping for the million

DVLA Personalised Registrations could find itself in "seventh heaven" during its forthcoming three day auction which gets underway on June 2 at Whittlebury Hall.

Buoyed by the 7 O and 10 OOO registrations set to head line at Whittlebury Hall, DVLA's team of experts believe the agency could surpass the magical seven figure mark from the sale of a single series of personalised plates.

Released by DVLA Personalised Registrations to mark its 20th anniversary last year, the O series encompassing the registrations 1 O, 2 O, 3 O, 4 O, 5 O, 6 O, 9 O, 1 OOO and 2 OOO has amassed a staggering 872,000 pounds.

And while the agency is 130,000 pounds short of its magical 1 million mark, the high expectations surrounding 7 O and 10 OOO being sold at the Northamptonshire venue, ironically, the scene where 1 O sold for a whopping 210,000 pounds in January 2009, indicate that that million pound figure could well be banked for The Treasury.

DVLA Personalised Registrations Marketing Manager, Damian Lawson said: "While we had high hopes for the O series, we never in our wildest thoughts believed we could be on the verge of raising 1 million from their sale so soon.

"Since 1 O was sold at Whittlebury Hall 18 months ago there has been a terrific amount of interest surrounding the whole O series and while we do not expect to surpass the 210,000 pound it made, it would be truly ironic if Whittlebury proved to be the setting for hitting the magical million mark."

In total, DVLA's forthcoming auction will comprise 1,500 number plates chosen to offer an eclectic mix to suit all tastes, styles and pockets, including;

ALS 911 (reserve 1,900)
BOO7 HAM (900)
EL10 OTT (1,000)
ESS 3X (900)
F458 RED (900)
F1 USA (1,900)
GOF 11E (350)
H15 DOG (900)
599 JS (2,600)
51 NKS (1,900)
N47 URE (350)
N188 LER (300)
7 O (10,000)
0007 BND (900)
10 OOO (8,000)
OWN 805S (350)
ROL 333X (400)
SO10 ACT (1,000)
SKY 7V (400)
SO10 MON (1,000)
VE55 SPA (900)
W11 DOW (900)



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DVLA number plate fraud

DVLA high level officers in the criminal investigation department continue to hold, in safe custody, the compelling criminal evidence dossiers concerning the forged and falsified 'Carroll Automobile Collection Cherished Number Plates Portfolio Log Books'.

Included in this portfolio are the rare 'A1, GJC1, and GJC11' personalised registration plates which were "stolen" in the longest running and largest white collar organised crime, tax evasion and money laundering case in modern economic history.

The Carroll Foundation Charitable Trust, one billion dollars, international case is bringing in the elite law enforcement officers from the FBI Washington DC field office and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) in London.




Sources close to the DVLA at the Swansea headquarters have confirmed that "multiple forged log books" covering the Carroll Super Car Collection which contains ten Ferraris, seven Lamborghinis and a rare Automobilia Fine Art Collection was the fraudulent mechanism used by the FBI / SOCA task force, to target Goodman Derrick Crime Syndicate in this US HM Crown Carroll Trust National Security Public Interests Case.

A1, is thought to be the very first UK vehicle registration number. Originally issued in London in 1903 it is considered to be the UK's most famous registration plate, having had a continuous and well documented history since Earl Russell managed to secure it by getting his Butler to queue up all night outside the licencing authorities office in London.

Should 'A1' come onto the market today, the sales price will undoubtedly be in the millions.







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