{
  "id": 15633523,
  "title": "How to find Flock cameras near you with MapQuest’s new ‘surveillance layer’",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/19/how-to-find-flock-cameras-near-you-with-mapquests-new-surveillance",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-19T16:59:56.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "ZDNet",
    "slug": "zdnet",
    "url": "https://www.zdnet.com/tech/how-to-find-flock-cameras-nearby-mapquest-surveillance-layer/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "MapQuest, the well-known online navigation service, has introduced a new feature to help users locate Flock license plate tracking cameras. This feature is available in the app's map, which is similar to Google Maps and Apple Maps. However, unlike its competitors, MapQuest's app does not offer any option to reroute around these cameras. When users enable the surveillance layer (accessible via the layer icon on the main navigation screen), they will see small red eyes representing the Flock cameras and the vision cones indicating their direction of view.\n\nAt the moment, there is no built-in feature to avoid Flock cameras while navigating, but users can manually identify their locations and steer clear of them if desired. There are other crowdsourced maps available, such as OpenStreetMap, which also display the locations of Flock and similar cameras. Although the source did not specify how MapQuest obtained the camera locations, the data appears to be user-generated and reliable.\n\nInterestingly, Waze, another navigation app, identifies \"police cameras,\" but this includes various types of cameras, including speed and general traffic/camera surveillance. Because of this, it can be confusing to differentiate between the different types of cameras. The introduction of this surveillance layer in MapQuest's app could be a welcome addition for individuals concerned about the increasing presence of Flock cameras. Even though the author of the source has not been overly concerned about them, they found the knowledge of over 30 cameras in a town of 80,000 people to be unsettling. As MapQuest continues to improve and gain popularity, it may become a viable alternative to the dominant navigation apps like Google Maps, Waze, and Apple Maps.",
  "summary": "A name from the past is emerging again to help you stay out of sight of surveillance cameras.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Verge",
        "title": "Benn Jordan on Flock, privacy, and the new surveillance backlash",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/15/benn-jordan-on-flock-privacy-and-the-new-surveillance-backlash",
        "published": "2026-10-15T14:00:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Tom's Hardware",
        "title": "Flock camera locations revealed on MapQuest’s new Surveillance Layer",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/18/flock-camera-locations-revealed-on-mapquests-new-surveillance-layer",
        "published": "2026-10-18T10:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}