Nextdoor's "suspicious person" feature became a racial profiling tool. Studies found Black residents reported as suspicious for walking in their own neighbourhoods. Police partnerships amplified the bias — neighbourhood paranoia, validated by an app, forwarded to law enforcement. Digital redlining disguised as community safety. Nextdoor is the only social network that requires your actual home address. Your real name, verified to your real house. If your Nextdoor account is compromised, a stalker doesn't just get your email — they get the street where you sleep. And Nextdoor shares data with real estate companies and advertisers.
What they claim: Nextdoor promotes itself as a trusted neighbourhood platform for local communities
What we found: Nextdoor has been criticised for enabling racial profiling through its "suspicious activity" reporting feature. Studies found Black and brown residents were disproportionately reported as "suspicious" for activities like walking, jogging, or sitting in cars. Nextdoor also partnered with police departments to share neighbourhood crime reports, effectively creating a surveillance network where racial bias gets amplified through a "community safety" feature.
What they claim: Nextdoor requires users to verify their real home address to join
What we found: Nextdoor is the only major social network that requires your real home address as a condition of use. This creates a database linking real names to verified physical addresses — data that is uniquely dangerous in doxxing, stalking, and domestic violence contexts. Nextdoor's privacy policy allows sharing data with advertisers, real estate companies, and local businesses.