I’m writing as a Waze user with a feature suggestion that I believe fits naturally with what has made Waze such a valuable navigation platform… giving drivers useful, community-sourced information about the roads they travel.

I would like to ask Waze to consider adding the ability for users to report fixed automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras, including systems commonly known as Flock cameras.

Waze already empowers its community to share information about police presence, red-light cameras, speed cameras, crashes, hazards, construction, and other conditions that may be relevant to drivers. As automated surveillance technology becomes increasingly common along public roadways, I believe drivers should similarly have the ability to know when they are passing infrastructure specifically designed to identify and record vehicle movements.

For me, this is ultimately an issue of transparency and informed choice.

Whatever someone’s personal opinion of ALPR technology may be, these systems can collect information about ordinary people simply as they travel through their communities. Many drivers may not recognize the cameras, understand what they do, or even realize that their vehicle information is being collected. A small, neutral icon within Waze identifying a known ALPR location would give users information without telling them what to think about it.

There is also an important distinction between providing transparency and facilitating wrongdoing. Waze already demonstrates that potentially sensitive roadway information can be presented responsibly. An ALPR reporting feature could be designed around fixed, publicly visible infrastructure and could simply inform users that an automated license plate reader has been reported at that location.

I believe such a feature would reinforce one of the principles that makes Waze unique: the road is experienced by a community, and members of that community should be able to help one another understand the environment through which they are traveling.

Technology will continue to change the relationship between public spaces, transportation, privacy, and surveillance. Navigation platforms have an opportunity to ensure that increased technological capability is accompanied by increased public awareness.

I hope Waze will seriously consider allowing the community to report ALPR cameras as part of its existing reporting ecosystem. Even if implementation requires careful consideration, I believe the conversation itself is worthwhile.

Thank you for taking the time to consider the suggestion and for continuing to build a navigation platform shaped by the people who actually use the roads.