MapQuest has added a surveillance layer to its app that shows known outdoor cameras and licence plate readers, including those made by Flock Safety. Users can switch it on in Map Options, next to the traffic and incidents layers. The update follows a surge in MapQuest downloads in September.
MapQuest has added a layer to its app that shows where known outdoor surveillance cameras and licence plate readers are, Engadget reported on Friday. Users can turn it on in Map Options, where it sits next to the traffic and incidents layers.
The layer includes cameras from Flock Safety, one of the largest makers of licence plate readers in the US. It also shows devices from Motorola Solutions (Vigilant), Genetec, Axis Communications, Axon, Leonardo (ELSAG), Neology, Rekor, PlateSmart, Ubicquia, and Verkada.
MapQuest announced the feature on social media with the line “The Roads Have Eyes!”, according to CarScoops. The site added that the camera locations are crowdsourced, so users can add devices they spot.
Licence plate readers photograph passing cars and log their plates, times, and locations. Police and private groups can then search those records.
Flock’s cameras have been spreading fast across the US, and they face growing pushback. A US judge has also ruled that a police Flock search was unconstitutional mass surveillance.
The update is the latest in a run of changes at MapQuest. Downloads of the app jumped in September after it refused to follow Google Maps and Apple Maps in relabelling Lake Ontario as Lake America.
It has since added Android Auto support and public transport directions, according to Engadget.
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