"Section 4.2(b): The Town of Chesterburgh shall retain exclusive rights to all derivative data generated through the surveillance system for a period not less than ten (10) years post-contract termination."

    Chesterburgh’s recent procurement of a new, townwide surveillance system has officially come to light, though the details behind the vendor contract remained buried until my request for the full FOIA package finally arrived last week. The system, granted quietly via a town council vote last fall, encompasses not only traditional security cameras but also sophisticated AI-driven analytics—technology more commonly found in metropolitan areas with populations ten times Chesterburgh’s size.

    The implementation was framed publicly as a step toward “enhanced community safety,” a phrase repeated ad nauseam in press releases and social media posts by the mayor’s office. Yet, a careful reading of the contract and associated documents, totaling some 87 pages, reveals a much more intricate arrangement than those sound bites suggested.

    At the heart of the system’s backbone is a partnership with SecureVision Technologies, a company based out of Dallas, TX, that specializes in software capable of facial recognition, pattern analysis, and real-time pedestrian flow assessments. The contract, dated October 2023, details a five-year term with options to renew, but what immediately stood out were clauses relating to data ownership and use.

    Specifically, as highlighted in Section 4.2(b), all data captured—including behavioral metadata and analytic predictions—will be owned exclusively by the town for at least a decade beyond the contract’s termination. This effectively ensures that future administrations can continue mining the streams of information collected, whether or not SecureVision remains involved. In essence, Chesterburgh isn’t just buying cameras—it’s acquiring a long-term surveillance footprint.

    Equally noteworthy is the clause restricting any public disclosure of raw or processed data without express permission from the vendor, an unusual stipulation for a public body’s contract. It reads:

"No data gathered or derived through SecureVision systems shall be released publicly or to any third party without prior joint approval from the Town Council and SecureVision Technologies legal representatives."

    This limitation runs counter to the principles of transparency that often accompany public surveillance initiatives, suggesting a considerable degree of control retained by the private vendor. The policy effectively places SecureVision in a gatekeeper position vis-à-vis Chesterburgh’s own information. Whether this was weighed adequately by the council before voting is an open question—minutes from that meeting note a somewhat cursory discussion explicitly focused on costs, with little mention of data governance.

    Financially, the deal clocks in at just over $1.2 million for initial deployment, with annual maintenance fees projected at $150,000. These sums have raised eyebrows given Chesterburgh’s modest $12 million annual budget and existing financial commitments to education and infrastructure. The media releases touted federal grants covering a significant portion of the costs, but a closer reading of the grant agreements shows several provisions restricting how the surveillance initiative can be modified going forward—a kind of federal leash.

    The grant contract from the Department of Homeland Security, appended in the FOIA package, explicitly mandates the town’s "continued adherence to prescribed operational protocols," effectively locking Chesterburgh into a technological regime vetted at the national level. So while the grant eased t