MapQuest App Adds Support For Flock Cameras

Remember MapQuest? Maybe not, but it was an invaluable digital co-pilot for millions of American drivers years before Maps was a glint in Google's eye, and it might just have made itself a must-have app for 2027 and beyond. Because MapQuest now shows drivers the location of something sinister they really might want to avoid, something you won't be alerted to on Google Maps or Waze.

The Colorado-based developer has now added support for Flock surveillance cameras, which means it's giving drivers the support they need to steer clear of them. And Flock's controversial cameras aren't the only devices drivers are being alerted to. MapQuest's new monitoring layer also shows users the locations of other number plate recognition devices.

"The Roads Have Eyes!" MapQuest posted on social media to announce the rollout. "Turn on the Surveillance Layer in Map Options to see known license plate readers from Flock Safety, Motorola Solutions (Vigilant), Genetec, Axis Communications, Axon, Leonardo (ELSAG), Neology, Rekor, PlateSmart, Ubicquia, Verkada, and other outdoor surveillance cameras."

The service relies on crowdsourced location data, ABAB News reports, meaning users can add the location of any device they spot to help warn other drivers. And since Flock has deployed more than 100,000 of its controversial cameras across the US, there are plenty of sites to add.

Flock says its cameras help keep America's streets safer, assisting law enforcement in solving crimes and finding missing persons. But there has been a growing backlash across the US against the mass surveillance of innocent civilians. Some people have been mistakenly identified as criminals by the systems, and multiple police officers have been arrested or fired after they used Flock's technology to stalk people.

Flock cameras have been vandalized by angry residents in some communities, and legally shut down by lawmakers in others. Texas governor Greg Abbot put a hold on state funding of license plate readers along state rights-of-way, Florida ordered automatic license plate readers (ALPR) removed, and numerous counties and cities have pulled the plug on their systems. Little wonder then that Flock was forced to cut its workforce by 18 percent, or 270 people, this month, Reuters reported.

MapQuest launched in 1996 and was a pioneer in online navigation at a time when most of us still relied on a dog-eared Rand McNally road atlas to find our way across the US. AOL bought it for $1.1 billion in 2000, but MapQuest later faded from the conversation as Google Maps and Waze began to dominate the digital mapping space.

It never fully disappeared though, and was back in the headlines this year after refusing to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America to keep US President Donald Trump onside. Google Maps and Waze, in stark contrast, were quick to kowtow, though only in the US. Anyone outside of the US still sees the original, and legally correct name.

This added Flock support could further increase MapQuest's relevance and appeal, though it's still probably best not to think of it as an invisibility cloak for your car.