MapQuest returned to the cultural zeitgeist earlier this year when it rejected US President Donald Trump’s push to rename Lake Ontario. Now it makes headlines for showing the location of surveillance cameras, at the request of users.
MapQuest now has a ‘surveillance layer’ that users can activate that shows an animated eye where there are automated license plate readers (ALPRs).
The move comes amid increasing scrutiny of cameras like ALPRs, which some see as increasing privacy. While police view these cameras as tools for finding criminals, stolen vehicles, missing people, and more, the public has valid concerns about misuse.
This is especially true in the US, where ALPRs by companies like Flock are increasingly being used for predatory behavior, from targeting innocent people to stalking people and abducting children. And that’s not even getting into how the White House uses these cameras for widespread surveillance.
Per CBC newsMapQuest camera brands include Flock cameras as well as those from other companies, including Genetec, PlateSmart, Neology and Verkada. In addition, the camera locations come from crowd-sourced data from OpenStreetMap.
Of course, MapQuest isn’t the only one mapping these cameras. Several other tools have popped up to map ALPRs from Flock and other companies. There is panopti.ca, a Canada-focused, open-source ALPR mapping tool built on top of DeFlock, a similar tool for the US. Another similar website is called flockcameralocations.com.