Mesa OKs AVL consolidation contract as resident warns of telematics privacy risks
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Summary
The council approved a contract to consolidate the city's automatic-vehicle-locator (AVL) systems into one vendor; resident Reggie Braun warned telematics can expose detailed driver behavior and urged local data retention and stronger safeguards.
Mesa '0Jan. 26, 2026'0— The Mesa City Council unanimously approved a contract to consolidate multiple automatic-vehicle-locator (AVL) systems into a single vendor, part of an IT "application rationalization" effort to eliminate duplication and lower costs.
Scott Conn, the city's CIO and IT director, told council the move will reduce six separate AVL systems to one, improve fleet visibility on a single map and save money. "This will take all 6 down to a single vendor... It will be less expensive than what we currently pay the 6 vendors in total," Conn said.
Before the vote, resident Reggie Braun urged caution on telematics and artificial intelligence, warning that vendor-held vehicle data can include driving habits, eye-tracking and other sensitive signals that could be sold or used by insurers. "Keep our information safe on our own servers," Braun said during public comment, warning about data retention in cloud services.
Councilmembers and staff said the AVL contract covers city-owned fleet vehicles only and stressed the city can work with the IT office to answer specific privacy and retention questions. The council approved the AVL item without dissent and asked staff to connect the resident with CIO staff for follow-up.
