Protecting The Public's Trust & Flock

I think we can all agree that having a safe and secure neighborhood is important to all Norwood citizens. Norwood’s leadership has entered into an agreement with a company who is not interested in our safety or security. The worst part is the company “Flock” uses the guise of increasing public safety as the reason we should pay them for the privilege of letting them collect data on our locations and our movements.

Flock is more interested in sharing and selling the movements of individuals to federal agencies and anyone who will pay them than they are in increasing safety. Several articles in The Boston Globe (Boston told Flock not to allow outside access to its license plate data. It happened anyway. 15-Sep, Littleton shut down Flock surveillance cameras on public roads. Without telling the town, Flock turned them back on. 06-Aug) have reported on this company’s refusal to follow the contracts and demands of the municipalities. The Norwood police chief wants to keep these as a tool for his staff to use as was stated during the 08-Sept-2026 Selectboard meeting; this erodes my trust, and it should yours as well.

I’m calling and will continue to call though any means available to me for Norwood to cancel these contracts. None of us should want grants or our tax dollars used to spy on us for data to be sold to the highest bidder. Data is more valuable than gold or oil because it can be sold and used so many times for so many purposes (good and bad). I do not have an issue with license plate readers or cameras, but this vendor is a cancer we have invited into our community, and we need to take action to remove it.

Nicholas Grow

Town Meeting Member District 7

Victim of having my movements being sold and shared to the highest bidder