Public-safety apps might keep you informed. But are they good for the public?

Since March, the number of people downloading the safety-awareness app Citizen has doubled. Citizen gathers local reports from emergency scanners — crimes, fires, weather hazards, protests — and lets users upload video of what’s happening. It also recently added COVID-19 contact tracing to the app. Citizen says it keeps people safe and informed. But, like with Nextdoor, Ring and other safety products and services, there are fears of unintended consequences, like paranoia, surveillance, endangering yourself to videotape an incident and the racism that can be inherent in crime reporting. Molly spoke with Andrew Frame, the founder and CEO of Citizen. She asked him how he responds to critics who say the app makes people more paranoid about their communities.