MapQuest now showing surveillance camera locations across Canada, U.S.
MapQuest has added a 'surveillance layer' to its mapping service that identifies the locations of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) in the U.S. and Canada. The feature follows a surge in app popularity after the company refused to rename Lake Ontario.
Why it matters
The integration of surveillance tracking into consumer mapping tools highlights growing public concern over privacy and the ubiquity of law enforcement monitoring technology.
The company introduced a "surveillance layer" earlier this week that uses animated eyes to mark where automated licence plate readers, or ALPRs, have been set up by police or others.
"We knew that there were a ton of cameras in use and documented in the U.S. and Canada," MapQuest general manager Doug Berger told CBC News. "You would never know unless they were pointed out to you."
The U.S.-based online mapping service recently went viral, three decades after it launched, after refusing to change the name of Lake Ontario to "Lake America" following U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order demanding the switch. (Apple and Google changed the lake's name for U.S. users.)
Some three million people in the U.S. and Canada downloaded the app following the move, according to Berger.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in