About panopti.ca

panopti.ca is an open-source project that maps the spread of automatic licence plate readers (ALPRs) across Canada. Its purpose is to make a quiet form of mass surveillance visible — to show where these cameras stand, who runs them, and just how widely they have been deployed.

What an ALPR does

An ALPR is an AI-powered camera that photographs and logs every passing vehicle — its plate, its location, and the moment it drove by — whether or not the driver is suspected of anything. Sold by vendors such as Genetec and Flock Safety, these cameras are spreading rapidly through Canadian cities and towns, often with little public debate or oversight.

Why mapping them matters

Surveillance that nobody can see is hard to question. Plotting each known camera on a public map turns scattered, easily-overlooked deployments into something concrete — something residents, journalists, and elected officials can examine, discuss, and challenge. A map also makes the scale of the problem legible in a way that a single camera on a pole never could.

Built on open data

Every camera location lives on OpenStreetMap, the same open dataset that powers maps around the world. Nothing sits in a private database: the information is public, verifiable, and free for anyone to inspect, correct, or reuse. The project builds on the open-source work of DeFlock, which pioneered crowdsourced ALPR mapping in the United States.

How to contribute

The map grows through the people who use it. Spotting a camera and adding it to OpenStreetMap puts it on the map for everyone, and sharing the site helps more people understand how ALPR surveillance works and where it is taking hold. Guidance on how these cameras work and how to identify and report them is available throughout the site — no special expertise required.