ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The MapQuest app now includes a monitoring layer.
- You can see the location of license plate cameras near you.
- The app shows cameras from Flock and other companies.
If you’re worried about the increasing flock of license plate tracking cameras popping up everywhere, one of the oldest names in online navigation has a new way to help.
MapQuest — yes, the same MapQuest you would have used to print out turn-by-turn directions decades ago — announced on Bluesky that it has added a monitoring layer to the map on its app.
Also: 90,000 Flock Cameras Silently Go Up in the US: What They’re Tracking and How to Control Your City
MapQuest’s app offers turn-by-turn navigation, just like Google Maps and Apple Maps. But neither of the latter offers information about flock camera locations.
How MapQuest’s monitoring layer works
When you turn off the layer (just click the layer icon on the main navigation screen and you’ll see the toggle), the cameras will appear on the map as a little red eye. A cone of vision indicates which direction the camera is facing. There’s no setting yet to route you around number plate reading cameras, but you can see where they are and avoid them on your own if you want.
MapQuest didn’t explain how it found the location of these cameras, but I found out to ask. There are several crowdsourced maps online (which Flock actively campaigns for), but also OpenStreetMap, which shows where Flock and similar license plate reading cameras are located. It seems likely that the data MapQuest uses is user-generated, but it looks reliable.
The Waze app identifies “police cameras”, but that also includes speed cameras, as well as general traffic and weather cameras, so it can be hard to tell which are surveillance cameras.
I’ll admit that I wasn’t too concerned about flock cameras until now, but it was a bit disconcerting to see more than 30 cameras across the medium-sized town of 80,000 people where I live.
MapQuest is on the rise
The unique name for turn-by-turn directions is seeing a bit of a revival of late in a world dominated by Google Maps, Waze, and Apple Maps. The app made news in August by announcing that it would not change the name of Lake Ontario, leading to a surge of new users, and by announcing Android Auto support shortly thereafter.
Also: I tested Google Maps vs Waze to find the best updated navigation app – and this one wins
I was a dedicated Waze user for years before I belatedly switched to the default option of Google Maps, but if MapQuest can continue to improve, it could soon find itself as a viable alternative for users disillusioned with today’s tech landscape.
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