MapQuest has released an app update featuring a new Surveillance Layer that plots the locations of license plate readers from Flock Safety, Motorola Solutions, Genetec, Axis Communications, Axon, and several other manufacturers. The company announced the feature on Bluesky, noting that it also shows the direction each camera faces, letting users identify and potentially avoid known automatic license plate recognition devices.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-10-18
MapQuest launched a new 'Surveillance' layer this week that marks the locations of automatic license plate readers from Flock Safety, Motorola Solutions, Genetec, Axon and several other manufacturers. Users can enable it via the app's Layers menu, and tapping a marker reveals the camera type and exact coordinates. The company has not disclosed how it sources this location data.
cnet.com
· 2026-10-16
MapQuest has introduced a new toggleable map layer that displays locations of outdoor surveillance cameras and license plate readers, including devices from Flock, Motorola Solutions, Genetec, Axis Communications, Axon and several other manufacturers. The feature sits alongside existing traffic and incident layers in the app.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-16
Musician and investigative researcher Benn Jordan testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism at a hearing on Flock Safety and other automatic license plate reader systems. The company, which makes ALPR cameras and software, is now under investigation by Sen. Josh Hawley, has seen hundreds of local governments cancel contracts, and reportedly plans to cut about 18 percent of its workforce, according to Reuters. Jordan says he communicates directly with Flock's CEO Garrett Langley and reports security vulnerabilities to the company despite his criticism of its practices.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-15
At TechCrunch's Disrupt 2026 conference, Flock CEO Garrett Langley said the company has never ended a contract with a police department over misuse of its license plate reader systems, despite numerous reports of officers abusing database access to stalk people. Langley said Flock would cut off a customer that knowingly broke the law, but has so far judged individual officer misconduct cases as not warranting termination of the underlying agency's access.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-14
Canadian software engineer and YouTuber Anthony Sistilli built his own automatic license plate reader using a 4K surveillance camera and AI coding tools, configuring it to flag only police cruisers rather than ordinary vehicles. He tested the dashboard-mounted prototype in real traffic, refining it after early lag issues, and detailed the project in a YouTube video. Local police subsequently visited his home in September to question him about the device.
futurism.com
· 2026-10-13
Flock Safety, valued at $8.4 billion, is expanding its drone-for-police program even as its automated license plate readers face vandalism and municipal bans across the country. Cities have blacked out, painted over or wrapped the company's cameras in protest, citing surveillance concerns, while the company pivots growth toward aerial surveillance tools for law enforcement.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-13
Reporting has raised questions about whether companies other than Flock Safety operate similar automated license plate recognition networks that collect and share vehicle location data. The discussion centers on how widespread such surveillance infrastructure may be across the industry, not just at one vendor.
yro.slashdot.org
· 2026-10-12
As public backlash grows against Flock Safety's automatic license plate readers, police departments are increasingly adopting Axon's Fusus platform, which merges feeds from body cameras, dashcams, 911 calls, gunshot detectors, drones and CCTV into a single dashboard. Law professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson told NPR these 'real-time crime centers' already combine far more surveillance tools than ALPR cameras alone, including video analytics with retroactive search capability.
futurism.com
· 2026-10-11
Chrisanna Elser is suing Flock Group, two Colorado towns, and two police officials after a Flock automated license plate reader wrongly linked her Rivian to a $25 package theft, resulting in a criminal summons. The lawsuit, filed in federal court on behalf of Elser and other Coloradans whose plates Flock has logged, alleges intrusion upon seclusion and negligent design, claiming Flock sold searchable location data without requiring a warrant, case number, or supervisor approval before officers could search it.
yro.slashdot.org
· 2026-10-10
Flock Safety plans to lay off about 270 employees, roughly 18 percent of its 1,500-person workforce, effective at the end of October, according to sources cited by Reuters. The cuts follow a recent employee buyout program reported by WIRED, and it remains unclear how many departures are voluntary versus involuntary layoffs.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-09
Surveillance company Flock Safety is reducing its workforce by roughly 18%, or about 270 employees, with departures effective at the end of October, according to Reuters. Flock says the reductions came through a voluntary separation program rather than layoffs, though Wired reported last month the company had asked some staff to leave to avoid mandatory cuts.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-09
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