FOSS is not the only way to make ethical software. Entities like Google could choose to not be evil, it's really not that hard, evil is a choice.

Mapquest seems to be different, but the bar is on the floor so that's not saying much.

But the idea that a pay-for-ad-free subscription is so offensive is a ridiculous purity test; the devs need to be paid somehow. Frankly I never even noticed as I have a system adblocker and Mapquest has never complained about it.

Please don't.

I'll start doing daytrips and put all the ones in for the metropolitan area near me. wouldn't take that many of us, editing OSM to make it perfect is practicelly a Neuro-Divergent wet dream :) And their editor is very nice.

Note that OSM culture specifies that you should only add data that you have confirmed yourself, or if you go through the steps for a proper data import.

However that doesn't stop you from preparing a checklist to make it easier to verify each, and then adding the verified ones

MapQuest uses OSM.

None of my local flock cameras are in my OSM, I've added hundreds of entries (more than a thousand) houses/sidewalks/roads/crosswalks/intersections in my neigbor hood. I'm thinking of spinning up a new account ad adding all the flock.

From what I remember when this was posted on !ubc@lemmy.ca and the UBC subreddit, they ARE automatic license plate readers, but they are likely not connected to a wider network.

UBC uses them for parking enforcement, where if you park too long then you'll get a ticket in the mail. I feel like they've been in use for many years now, but I can't confirm that.

I'd support a review of the cameras regardless, in case they ARE sharing data, storing it too long, using it for some other purpose, capturing more than they need to, etc

However, I'm not as concerned about these ones compared to something like Flock potentially setting up on our public roads

edit, sources from another thread:

• https://lemmy.ca/comment/24873481
• https://universitycounsel.ubc.ca/terms-use-safety-and-security-camera-systems
• https://www.casestudies.com/company/genetec/case-study/ubc-boosts-parking-compliance-for-8000-spots-with-genetec-autovu-alpr-system

My HD and Lowes both have them. The lowes, in an ultimate dick move, doesn't just track you coming to their entrances, they put them where they can see the intersection of the whole fucking mall, both ways. They're getting thousands of cars.

Yep, that can happen sometimes.

https://www.gadgetreview.com/that-dirt-path-next-to-the-cornfield-has-a-flock-camera-so-does-everywhere-else

Thank you, for some reason I thought it was in settings.