MapQuest's new Surveillance Layer shows where license plate readers are

The new layer puts known license plate readers and other outdoor surveillance cameras on the MapQuest map. You turn it on in Map Options, the same menu that holds the traffic and road incidents layers, Gizmodo and The Next Web report.

LiveNOW from FOX reports that each location shows up as an eyeball icon. Tom's Hardware adds that the layer shows the direction each camera faces, not just where it stands.

MapQuest's own list of brands on the map is long:

• Flock Safety, one of the largest makers of license plate readers in the US, according to The Next Web
• Motorola Solutions (its Vigilant line)
• Genetec, Axis Communications and Axon
• Leonardo (its ELSAG readers)
• Neology, Rekor, PlateSmart, Ubicquia and Verkada
• "Other outdoor surveillance cameras," in MapQuest's words

The feature arrived in a Halloween-themed update. MapQuest teased it for days on social media with posts like "Things are about to get spooky" and "Ever feel like somebody's watching you?" The same update also brought spooky-season versions of MapQuest's Questies.

"The Roads Have Eyes! 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."

On October 17, MapQuest followed up with a short how-to post on turning the layer on.

In real life Update the MapQuest app, open Map Options and flip on the Surveillance Layer. Then look at your usual route to work. The eyeballs you see are cameras someone has already spotted and mapped.

A license plate reader is a camera built to read the plates of passing cars. The industry calls it ALPR, short for automatic license plate recognition.

The OpenStreetMap wiki explains the basics. The camera uses computer vision, software that "reads" images, to find plates in the traffic it films. Some systems also log the color, make and model of each car. Many models have infrared lights so they can work at night.

The Next Web describes what happens next. The camera logs each plate with the time and place it was seen. Police and private groups can then search those records.

Think of it like a guest book at the entrance of every street. You never sign it yourself, but the camera writes your car's name in it anyway, with the time.

MapQuest hasn't said. Gizmodo reports it reached out to the company and was waiting for an answer.

Gizmodo points out that the data looks similar to DeFlock, a grassroots project that keeps a user-submitted map of license plate readers. It says MapQuest may be drawing on DeFlock and the OpenStreetMap project, the free, volunteer-built map of the world.

That theory makes sense if you look at how OpenStreetMap works. It has a dedicated tag for these devices, "surveillance:type=ALPR," with extra tags for the brand, the direction a camera faces and whether it watches a street or a parking lot.

CarScoops, citing ABAB News, reports that the locations in MapQuest are crowdsourced, so users can add cameras they spot.

The catch: a crowdsourced map is only as complete as the people who build it. A camera nobody has reported won't show up. And Tom's Hardware notes the obvious limit: if your destination is covered by cameras, you'll pass one anyway.

License plate readers have spread quickly across the US. CarScoops reports that Flock alone has deployed more than 100,000 cameras in the country.

Supporters point to real results. Flock says its cameras help police solve crimes and find missing people. LiveNOW from FOX reports they have helped find missing seniors, catch car thieves and provide evidence in high-profile criminal cases.

Critics point to privacy. Here's what the reporting around the launch adds:

• Contracts: more than 50 agencies or jurisdictions have canceled, suspended or rejected a contract, or switched cameras off, since the start of the year, according to a DeFlock tracker cited by LiveNOW from FOX.
• Misuse: The Washington Post found nearly 50 cases of police officers charged with or accused of using the cameras for unauthorized purposes, LiveNOW from FOX reports.
• Mistakes: Tom's Hardware mentions administrative errors, including one that led to an innocent car reviewer being detained.

Tom's Hardware also reminds readers that police departments complained back in 2015, when Waze let drivers report where officers were. How police will react to a camera map is unclear.

If you're old enough, you remember MapQuest as the site you used to print driving directions. It launched in 1996, and AOL bought it for $1.1 billion in 2000, CarScoops reports. Then Google Maps and Waze took over, and MapQuest faded into the background.

This year it came back into the headlines. When Google Maps and Apple Maps changed the name of Lake Ontario on their US maps after an official naming update, MapQuest kept the old name. The Next Web reports MapQuest downloads jumped in September after that decision, and Gizmodo says the app hit the top spot in Apple's App Store.

MapQuest is turning a renewed spotlight into features the bigger map apps don't have. Engadget notes it recently added Android Auto support and public transit directions. The Surveillance Layer is the latest, and CarScoops points out it's something you won't get alerts for on Google Maps or Waze.

It's a little like a band from the 90s getting back together and opening with a song nobody else will play.

DeFlock already runs a public map of license plate readers, built from user reports. The difference is mostly about where you see it.

Why it matters: a dedicated website reaches people who already go looking for it. A switch in a navigation app reaches people who were only planning their drive to the store.

• You can see it today: update the MapQuest app and turn on the Surveillance Layer in Map Options. It's free.
• It isn't a complete list: only cameras someone has already spotted and mapped appear, and new ones go up all the time.
• It won't make you invisible: many destinations have cameras on every way in, so the map tells you where they are more than how to avoid them.
• You can help fill it in: the locations are crowdsourced, so a camera you spot on your street can end up on the map.