MapQuest, the mapping service many Americans last used to print driving directions, is wading into one of the country's most heated privacy fights with a feature that shows drivers who is watching the road. The company announced on Bluesky that its app now includes a "Surveillance Layer," a toggle in Map Options that plots known automated license plate readers from Flock Safety.

"The Roads Have Eyes!" the company wrote in the announcement.

While Flock is the headline name, the coverage extends well beyond it. The layer also maps cameras from Motorola Solutions' Vigilant, Genetec, Axis Communications, Axon, Leonardo's ELSAG, Neology, Rekor, PlateSmart, Ubicquia, Verkada and other outdoor surveillance systems—a roster that shows how many security vendors now supply automated plate-reading hardware on American roads. A demo video showed a dense cluster of eye-shaped icons around Los Angeles' Marina del Rey neighborhood, each paired with a red cone marking the direction the camera faces. MapQuest did not say in its post where the location data comes from.

License plate readers photograph passing vehicles and convert their plates into searchable data. Flock's AI-powered cameras go further, logging details such as a vehicle's make, model, color and even bumper stickers. The cameras can be networked so agencies across the country share access, and critics say the shared network allows agencies to track ordinary drivers from one jurisdiction to the next without a warrant. Flock is also developing an AI tool that helps police track drivers without license plate data or even a name.

The feature lands amid a growing bipartisan backlash against Flock. Earlier this month, lawmakers including Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced the Ban Flock Act, which seeks to prohibit federal agencies from using the technology. The bill followed Sanders' earlier call in late August to "stop Flock and AI mass surveillance." How the bill progresses in Congress is now one of the clearest signposts for where the fight over plate-reading cameras goes next.

Also in late August, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to stop funding Flock cameras after the Texas Tribune found that a state agency had steered at least $30 million toward the camera network.

In response to the mounting public backlash, Flock CEO Garrett Langley has asked Americans to compromise on privacy in exchange for safety. President Donald Trump, breaking his silence on the topic in mid-September, has praised the company's cameras.

The cameras have also become a cultural target: a Grand Theft Auto mod now lets players destroy Flock cameras in-game.

Drivers who switch on MapQuest's layer can try to plan routes around known cameras. But the map only reflects devices that have been identified, and many destinations may be impossible to reach without passing one. Even so, the feature places a mainstream navigation brand squarely in the middle of the national surveillance debate, giving everyday users a rare window into the spread of automated license plate readers on American roads.