MapQuest adds Surveillance Layer for Flock and other road cameras

MapQuest has added a MapQuest Surveillance Layer that lets mobile-app users view reported locations of automated license plate readers and other outdoor cameras. For drivers planning a route, it is an added piece of map information, not a guarantee that a road is free of surveillance or that the app can avoid every camera.

MapQuest announced the feature in an October 16 Bluesky post. The company said the option, found in Map Options, shows known cameras from Flock Safety and a range of other suppliers. The list includes Motorola Solutions’ Vigilant, Genetec, Axis Communications, Axon, Leonardo’s ELSAG, Neology, Rekor, PlateSmart, Ubicquia and Verkada.

Automated license plate readers photograph passing vehicles and turn plate information into searchable records. Flock’s systems have drawn public attention amid a wider debate over how camera networks are used and who can access the data they collect.

How do I turn on MapQuest’s Surveillance Layer?

In MapQuest’s mobile app, open the map, select the Layers or Map Options control, and switch on Surveillance, according to reporting by Yahoo Tech. Known or reported camera locations then appear as eye-shaped map markers.

A MapQuest demonstration showed those markers clustered around Marina del Rey in Los Angeles. The demo also used red cones to indicate the direction a camera faces, according to Decrypt.

The layer is informational. It does not automatically reroute a trip around cameras, and it does not stop a camera from recording a passing vehicle, Yahoo Tech reported. A driver can use the markers when comparing routes, but the feature does not promise that a chosen route will avoid surveillance equipment.

What does an unmarked road mean?

An unmarked road should not be read as proof that no camera is nearby. The map reflects devices that have been identified or reported, rather than a confirmed inventory of every surveillance camera. That limitation is central for anyone using the layer to assess a regular commute or an unfamiliar neighborhood.

The origin and completeness of the underlying camera-location data are also not fully settled in the available reporting. Yahoo Tech reported that the information comes from OpenStreetMap, a community-maintained mapping database. But Decrypt noted that MapQuest’s announcement did not specify where its location data came from. MapQuest has not established in its public post that the layer is a complete or authoritative record.

The update covers substantially more than Flock cameras, even though Flock is the company most closely associated with the feature’s rollout. For users, the practical takeaway is narrower: the layer can flag known camera locations before a drive, while leaving gaps where equipment has not been mapped.

This story draws on original reporting from Decrypt.