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Bonner County commissioners table sheriff's office app amid privacy concerns
Summary
The board delayed action on a one-year contract for the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office to join the Idaho Sheriffs Connect mobile app, asking for legal review of the vendor's privacy documents and a later start date if approved.
Bonner County commissioners on Tuesday delayed a vote on a proposed one-year agreement for the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office to adopt the Idaho Sheriffs Connect mobile app, citing unresolved questions about the app vendor’s privacy policy and third‑party data storage.
The sheriff, Darryl Wheeler, asked the board to approve a $8,467.25 contract to build and maintain a mobile app, with the cost divided among the sheriff’s office, jail, marine division and dispatch. Wheeler told the board the vendor advised the county that “he does not share the information, with any third party. He uses it for analytical purposes only.”
Commissioners said they had received the vendor response too late to review fully and asked the county prosecutor to examine whether the privacy language in the vendor’s documentation matched the vendor’s assertions. A motion to table the item until the next regular business meeting — giving legal staff time to review the privacy and data storage provisions — carried. The motion also left open the possibility of pushing the contract’s proposed March 1 start date later if needed.
Public speakers asked whether the vendor had identified the third party storing the data, whether government agencies would have access to stored information and whether tip submissions would be stored. Sheriff Wheeler said the app “is just a link” that connects users to county services and other resources, and that anonymous tips submitted via the app would be captured in the sheriff’s office database rather than the vendor’s app store.
County staff recorded that the vendor’s reply arrived the morning of the meeting and that commissioners had limited time to reconcile the vendor’s plain‑language assurances with the legal text of the privacy materials. The board’s stated next step is a legal review; the agenda item was tabled to the board’s meeting on 2025-02-25.
The board did not adopt the contract at Tuesday’s meeting, and no formal start date was finalized pending the legal review.
