To The Editor:

There’s been a lot of discussion recently about automated cameras being installed in Newtown (for traffic enforcement), and I’d like to address an important aspect that I haven’t heard discussed yet: privacy.

While I fully support enforcing speed limits in our town, I am not in favor of giving third-party camera vendors unfiltered access to our data. These cameras collect an incredible amount of sensitive information: pictures of vehicle occupants, license plate numbers, timestamps, and location history.

That information can be used to profile individuals, create a record of where we travel, and more. A quick search on the topic reveals rampant security vulnerabilities with these vendors and instances of people in positions of power abusing their access. In fact, several large municipalities in the US have declined to renew contracts after discovering massive privacy breaches.

Are we in Newtown okay with this level of data collection? Who is the vendor supplying these cameras? And what security policies will be implemented to prevent data misuse within our Police Department?

Tyler Durkin

Sandy Hook