Readback (readback.ofrecord.ca)

In aviation, a readback is repeating a transmission back to prove you received it. This site reads back to the public what the state collects about them.

Mapping automated licence plate readers in Canada — where they are, what they can do, and what the settings say. A better panopti.ca / DeFlock: layered by purpose (police surveillance vs. toll vs. border), plus the mobile-fleet capacity no dot map shows, retention comparisons, vendor capabilities, and the actual evidence on crime reduction.

Core thesis

Every safeguard is a setting. Retention on the same technology spans 3 minutes (New Hampshire) to indefinite (34 US states); Peel keeps reads 24 hours while neighbouring Toronto keeps them 7 days. Consent and context matter: a toll you pay (407) and a border you cross are not the same as a dragnet on your commute — so those layers exist, toggled off, with notes.

Stack

• Astro static site + MapLibre GL map (dark theme)
• Data pipeline: npm run data → Overpass API (OSM) → classified static public/data/cameras.json. No runtime API calls, no database.
  • Layers: surveillance:type=ALPR (police), highway=toll_gantry (toll), barrier=border_control (border) — the toll layer is data no existing ALPR map surfaces.
  • Pass a saved Overpass JSON as an argument to skip the API: node scripts/build-cameras.mjs path/to/overpass.json
• Mobile fleets: hand-curated src/data/fleets.json (sourced in data/research/), rendered as capacity circles — most Canadian ALPR is vehicle-mounted and invisible to dot maps.

Run it

Docker (recommended — stays up on its own):

docker compose up -d --build

Then visit http://localhost:4321. Survives reboots and doesn't depend on a dev session being open. See docs/docker.md.

Local dev (live-reload while editing):

npm install
npm run data   # refresh camera data from OSM
npm run dev

Repository layout

• src/pages/ — map (index), tech (vendor hub + per-provider pages), rules, evidence, news, foi, about
• scripts/build-cameras.mjs — OSM data pipeline
• data/research/ — sourced research base (every site claim traces here)
• data/raw/ — third-party datasets (EFF Atlas of Surveillance CSV)
• docs/ — design decisions, Docker guide, launch plan + emails
• content/ — draft content pieces
• Dockerfile / docker-compose.yml / nginx.conf — static-site container

Camera data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).