From a WIS Interview to ABC News
This afternoon, I got a text and a phone call from Synai Ferrell at ABC News on my Google number. I did a quick search to make sure she was real—and it turns out she and possibly others at ABC had seen my WIS interview in Columbia, South Carolina.
The short version: I have a Microsoft Teams interview with ABC News on October 20 at 3:30 p.m.!
Not a bad way to spend an afternoon. More soon!
Day 123: Nextdoor Talks About AI. What About Election-Year Privacy and Safety?
Election Day is approaching, and I'd like Nextdoor CEO Nirav Tolia to address something.
We've heard plenty about AI, neighborhood intelligence, and the value of Nextdoor's data. Those are important topics.
But here's a question that deserves just as much attention:
What happens when a neighborhood discussion turns political—and someone with access to sensitive user information decides to misuse it?
Politics can get heated. People disagree. Local moderators try to enforce community rules, but no moderation system can guarantee that every discussion stays civil.
Now consider what makes Nextdoor different from many other social platforms: the connection between accounts and verified neighborhood addresses.
That raises an important question about access, privacy, and accountability.
The Risk Isn't Just What People Post. It's Who Can Access the Data.
Imagine a neighbor gets into a heated political disagreement with someone on Nextdoor.
What if the disagreement escalates beyond comments?
What if someone tries to identify where another person lives, expose their phone number, intimidate them offline, or use private information to retaliate?
I'm not claiming this has happened or that Nextdoor moderators are misusing anyone's information. I'm asking what safeguards exist to prevent it.
If a moderator or someone with platform privileges can access sensitive information tied to verified accounts, what prevents them from abusing that access?
A person's ability to moderate a conversation shouldn't automatically mean they need access to that person's private information.
Nirav, Here's What I'd Like to Know
Access controls: Who can access users' verified addresses, phone numbers, and other sensitive information?
Least privilege: Are moderators restricted to the information they actually need to perform their duties?
Audit trails: Does Nextdoor log and review access to sensitive user information, and can suspicious activity trigger an investigation?
Moderator accountability: What screening, training, and oversight help prevent abuse of moderator privileges?
Reporting and response: If a user suspects their information has been misused, how can they report it, and what protections and response procedures are available?
Election-season readiness: Does Nextdoor have specific procedures for handling political harassment, doxxing, threats, and attempts to take online disputes into the real world?
These aren't accusations. They're basic questions about privacy, security, and risk management.
Verified Addresses Create Responsibility
Nextdoor's neighborhood model depends on connecting people to real communities. That can help make local conversations relevant.
But verification alone doesn't guarantee good behavior.
A verified address is a trust signal—not a guarantee that everyone with access to the platform will act appropriately.
Security has to extend beyond verifying who belongs in a neighborhood. It must also govern who can access sensitive information, why they can access it, and what happens when someone abuses that privilege.
That's especially important when disagreements become personal.
AI Can Wait. Let's Talk About Protecting People.
Nirav, I'm interested in Nextdoor's AI strategy. I'm interested in neighborhood intelligence and how the company plans to become profitable.
But as Election Day approaches, I think privacy and safety deserve a direct conversation, too.
People shouldn't have to choose between participating in their neighborhood and worrying that their personal information could be used against them.
What safeguards does Nextdoor have to protect users when political disagreements get heated—and how does it hold people with privileged access accountable?
I'm not asking Nextdoor to disclose security details that could help someone bypass its protections. I'm asking for a clear explanation of the safeguards, oversight, and reporting procedures that protect its users.
Day 123. I still want Nextdoor to succeed. Protecting the people who make the platform valuable should be part of that success.
👉 Follow my continuing case study at NielFlamm.com/blog
The Appointment, the Doom Scroll, and One Good Foot
I went to the podiatrist today. My foot is fine, and somehow I didn't have a copay. So I have to ask: why does seeing a doctor for one foot cost a full copay, but apparently seeing a doctor for both feet costs nothing? The healthcare system remains a mystery—at least my toes are doing well.
My father had asked me several times to make an appointment for him while I was booking mine. So I did. After the recent malay with my mom, and after he used my “deficiency” against me, I still helped. I told him the appointment time, and the doctor texted him a reminder.
When it was time to leave, he was still in his chair, doomscrolling amid the boxes, papers, and other stuff that had gathered around the place he hardly gets up from.
As I was heading out, he asked, “Did you get my message?”
“No,” I said.
“I canceled the appointment.”
“As long as you called them.”
I’m not playing messenger.
This has become a pattern. He asks for help setting up an appointment or task, then cancels when the time comes because he’s “not feeling well.” Maybe there’s more going on—perhaps even agoraphobia. But whatever the reason, the result is the same: plans get made, plans get dropped, and I’m left rearranging my day around them.
It happened with a necessary trip to Verizon to fix his cellphone. We finally went about six months after he first asked. It happened with an in-person bank deposit, at least two months after he asked me to help. There have been other examples.
I don’t mind driving him. He isn’t in shape to drive himself, and I like being behind the wheel. Honestly, the world is probably safer with him off the road.
What I do mind is changing my own plans to help—like moving a pain appointment I’d arranged for that morning in Downtown Charleston—only for him to cancel at the last minute without telling me directly.
That’s not cool.
So, lesson learned: I’m happy to drive when there’s a real plan, and he’s ready to go. But I’m not rearranging my day around appointments he may cancel from his chair.
At least one of us made it to the podiatrist. And one of us left with a good foot and no copay.
Day 122: Nirav Tolia Thanks the Faves. Who Gets to Profit From the Love?
Yesterday, Nextdoor CEO Nirav Tolia congratulated the local businesses named 2026 Nextdoor Fave Award winners.
It's a nice sentiment. Local businesses deserve recognition, and neighbors who recommend great businesses deserve a thank-you, too.
But this celebration has another side.
Nextdoor thanks the businesses for earning local love while selling products that help businesses connect with local customers.
That's the tension.
Three Groups. One Business Model.
1. The small businesses
They earn recommendations and recognition from their communities. But reaching more neighbors through Nextdoor's commercial products can involve paying for advertising or other paid services.
2. The neighbors
They write recommendations, share experiences, and vote for their favorite businesses. Their contributions help Nextdoor identify popular businesses and make those insights useful to others.
3. Nextdoor
It operates the platform, organizes the information, and develops commercial products that monetize its neighborhood reach and knowledge.
All three contribute something. All three have an interest in the outcome.
But they don't necessarily benefit in the same way.
Thanking People Is Great. Sharing Value Is a Bigger Conversation.
I'm not arguing that Nextdoor shouldn't make money. I want businesses to succeed, and a profitable Nextdoor would be better positioned to serve its users and shareholders.
But when Nirav thanks neighbors for voting, I have a question:
What happens after those votes become commercially valuable data?
And when businesses receive Fave recognition, can they turn that recognition into customers without continually paying for greater reach?
Those are reasonable questions about the relationship between community participation and monetization.
Day 122
Nirav can congratulate the businesses. He can thank the neighbors. Both are good things.
But gratitude and a business model aren't the same thing.
Neighbors provide the recommendations. Businesses earn the recognition. Nextdoor builds the commercial opportunity.
I'm asking whether the people and businesses creating that value are getting a fair deal.
👉 Read more at NielFlamm.com/blog
The Pharmacy Run: Adding Five More Players to My Medication Team
Today, I picked up my medications, and let me tell you, my pharmacy list is starting to look like a baseball roster.
I've got Flonase, a higher dose of amlodipine, doxycycline, benzonatate, and generic Allegra.
And that's on top of everything I was already taking!
Between diabetes, dialysis, and the usual collection of medical adventures, keeping track of my medications is becoming a part-time job. At this rate, I may need a spreadsheet, a project manager, and a weekly status meeting just to keep everything straight. 😂
The goal is simple: get rid of this stubborn cough, get the allergies under control, and hopefully get back to feeling like myself.
After dealing with this dry cough for nearly two months, I'm ready for it to pack its bags and move out. No forwarding address necessary!
I'm hoping the new medications do the trick. Of course, with kidney failure and dialysis in the picture, I also need to make sure my medication regimen is appropriate for my condition and that my doctors and pharmacist know everything I'm taking.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date with my medication organizer.
Here's hoping the next update is about feeling better instead of adding another prescription to the collection!