Archive notice: This article was originally published on October 18, 2007. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Use of the service is completely free of charge. StolenCars24 is the first Europe-wide database for recording stolen vehicles. The service fulfils two functions: On the one hand, an offered motor vehicle can be checked on the basis of vehicle identification numbers (formerly “chassis number”) to see whether it has been reported stolen. On the other hand, every user can report a stolen motor vehicle himself and provide his e-mail address in order to be notified when the vehicle has been found.
The service is meanwhile offered in seven languages: alongside German, English, French, Italian and Spanish, users from Russia and Poland can also start queries in Their national language. How important the information offering from StolenCars24 have meanwhile become is shown by international use: the queries also come, beyond the countries mentioned, from regions whose language is not yet offered at all, such as the Czech Republic.
The service closes a gap in the police information system. Prospective buyers can admittedly ask by calling the police whether a vehicle has been reported stolen, but on the one hand the police have no obligation whatsoever to provide information here for data-protection reasons. On the other hand, the national police databases are not networked across Europe because of differing legal rules, so that a query at most leads to information for the respective country.
Use of StolenCars24 is free of charge and anonymous for entries and deletions as well as queries. The data provided and in particular the e-mail address provided are shown to the searcher only in direct search queries for the vehicle ID concerned. Passing them on to third parties, e.g. for advertising purposes, is excluded.
Further links:
- Stolencars24
