MapQuest added license plate readers from Motorola Solutions’ Vigilant, Axon, and Verkada to its map, in addition to Flock Safety’s.
The app’s Map Options include an optional “Surveillance Layer” that maps readers from 11 named vendors.
Eye icons and red cones mark cameras around Marina del Rey
MapQuest announced the toggle on Bluesky Oct. 15 with the line “The Roads Have Eyes!” The post lists Genetec, Axis Communications, Leonardo’s ELSAG, Neology, Rekor, PlateSmart, and Ubicquia, plus unnamed outdoor camera systems, in addition to Flock, Motorola, Axon, and Verkada.
The post has a demo video attached to it in which eye icons swarm the streets of Los Angeles’ Marina del Rey. Each icon has a red cone that indicates which way its camera’s facing.
MapQuest has not said where the camera locations come from. The layer can only display readers someone has already found, so any unlisted camera will not appear on the map.
The feature is available in MapQuest’s mobile app. MapQuest refused to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” last month, and the app has been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times since.
Lawmakers move to ban federal use of Flock’s plate readers
Flock’s readers compile what the company calls a “vehicle signature,” adding make, model, color, bumper stickers, and decals.
Flock doesn’t use facial recognition. Cryptopolitan reported that in August, Flock’s network alone had over 120,000 readers in 49 states.
Across Flock and rival systems, more than 50 officers have faced accusations, charges, or convictions for watching former partners and love interests through plate readers.
Cryptopolitan reported that in one Kentucky case, an officer searched the Flock system about 2,000 times to tail a former partner.
The Ban Flock Act was introduced earlier this month by lawmakers, including Senator Bernie Sanders. The legislation would forbid federal agencies from using automated plate readers and pause federal grants to states and localities that have reader contracts.
The bill comes after Sanders’ call in late August to “stop Flock and AI mass surveillance.”
Under the bill, Americans could also take Washington to court over reader use. Last month, Sens. Raphael Warnock and Katie Britt asked Attorney General Todd Blanche to disclose how the Justice Department uses the readers.
Late in August, Texas Governor Greg Abbott cut off state agency money for Flock, and Republican Senator Josh Hawley began a probe into how the company handles the data it collects. Abbott acted after a state agency was found to have funneled at least $30 million toward Flock’s network.
Mid-September saw President Donald Trump laud the company’s cameras. Flock supports legislation to add guardrails around the use of plate readers, Flock said.
Cryptopolitan has also covered other pushback against camera networks this year. One Berlin artist created a shirt that AI cameras don’t recognize as a human being, and Norway moved to tighten rules on smart glasses.
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