What it is
Pattern, not paranoia.
Most home invasions in Australia are not opportunistic. Crews scout first. One person walks the street, photographs gates, checks for dogs, notes the cars in the driveway. By the time the raid starts, the choice is already made. The scout is the weak link. The scout is alone, on foot, conspicuous if you are watching.
The Lookout lets a member press a single button when they see something off. Someone at the gate. A car circling the cul-de-sac. A presence that does not belong on the street. Your flag stays private. It never lands in your group chat, your neighbours' phones, or a public feed. In the founding pilot, every flag is reviewed before it counts. If three flags hit the same behaviour in the same postcode inside ninety minutes, the system acts.
Verified neighbours
Real residents, vouched for.
A flag only means something if it comes from a real person on a real street. So members vouch for the people they actually know next door. Each vouch ties a name to a home, and the vouches link up into a verified constellation of trusted neighbours across your suburb.
The more verified neighbours on a street, the stronger the network and the harder it is to spoof. A cluster built from vouched residents carries real weight. A burst of flags from accounts nobody recognises does not. Verification is how the Lookout stays a tool for the street, not a back door for anyone with an app and a grudge.
See also: Walk me home, in the app, shares the same street network and contact fan-out, so a watched walk home reaches the same trusted neighbours.
Lookout lives in the native Vigil Guard iOS app (in TestFlight now, App Store submission pending), with a live neighbourhood radar and an ambient night-watch mode. The phones on this page mirror the real product.
How a flag travels
From one quiet tap,
to a street on alert.
Six steps. Most members never see steps 3 onward. The flag leaves your hands and the system carries it from there.
The alert your neighbours see is short, plain, and free of imagery: "A suspicious presence has been flagged near you in the last hour. Lights on. Doors locked. Once patrol is licensed in your state, the nearest car is redirected."
Cluster confirmed.
A suspicious presence has been flagged near you three times in the last hour. Lights on. Doors locked. Once patrol is licensed in your state, the nearest car is redirected.
Try it
Tap a flag. Watch the cluster form.
A simulation, on this page, of what a Hawthorn member sees on their phone. Tap a behaviour from the right. When three independent flags land in the same suburb inside 90 minutes, the cluster fires.
Simulation only. Patrol response begins once licensed in your state.
Flag a behaviour
Cluster threshold: 3 independent flags in 90 min. In the founding pilot, each flag is reviewed before it counts toward a cluster.
Tap a behaviour on the left to log a flag.
The hard line
Watchful, not vigilante.
The fastest way to ruin an app like this is to let it become a group chat for rallying five blokes. We don't. Four rules, in writing, that we will never relax.
-
I
Photos stay private. If you attach a photo to a flag, it is never broadcast. Other members receive a behaviour description and a postcode-level alert. Never an image, never a face.
-
II
Behaviour, not appearance. The flag form asks what they were doing, not what they looked like. There is no race or ethnicity field. Appearance-only flags are rejected.
-
III
The app never asks you to act. Vigil Guard does not invite members to confront, follow, or surround anyone. The alert tells you to stay inside and lock your doors. That is the entire response we ever ask of you.
-
IV
Bad-faith flags cost the membership. Repeated flags that describe people by appearance, target a specific home or person, or appear designed to harass get the membership suspended. The Lookout is a safety tool, not a weapon.
Illustrative · founding-pilot preview
How a cluster reads.
This is what the Lookout view looks like on an example night. Each chip is a single flag from a single member, indexed by postcode and time. When three independent chips meet inside the same 90-minute window in the same suburb, the system pushes a quiet alert to every member nearby. Once patrol is licensed in your state, the nearest car turns toward the street.
The figures below are an illustrative example, not live data. Real numbers will reflect actual member activity once Cohort N° 001 opens.
An example night
Illustrative figures
You never see this dashboard. You see one push notification, if it concerns your street: "A suspicious presence has been flagged near you in the last hour. Lights on. Doors locked. Once patrol is licensed in your state, the nearest car is redirected."
Often asked
The straight answers.
Will my flag ever be shown to my neighbours?
No. Your name, your photo if you took one, and your written description are never broadcast. The only thing your neighbours see is a postcode-level alert with a behaviour summary, after the flag is reviewed and the cluster has hit three independent reports.
What stops people flagging anyone they don't like the look of?
Three things. The form requires a behaviour description before it will submit. In the founding pilot, flags are reviewed and appearance-only reports are rejected. And we keep a record of who flags whom. Patterns of bad-faith flagging cost members their membership.
What is a verified neighbour?
A resident another member has vouched for. Vouches tie real names to real homes and link into a verified constellation across your street. A denser verified network resists fake flags: a cluster from vouched neighbours carries weight, while a burst from accounts nobody recognises does not. It is the same "who flags whom" record that keeps the Lookout honest.
Why isn't this included only on the higher tiers?
Because it is collective intelligence. The more eyes, the better the product works. Charging extra for the right to flag would mean fewer flags, weaker clusters, worse alerts for everyone. The Lookout is included on Watch, Patrol, and Estate at the same level.
Does a patrol car always come?
When a cluster confirms (three independent flags, one postcode, ninety minutes) every member within 500m gets a quiet alert. Patrol is gated on state licensing. Once patrol is licensed in your state, the nearest car is redirected to a confirmed cluster and every member who flagged that night gets a free patrol pass added to their log.
Questions worth asking
The Lookout, unhedged.
If your question isn't here, email hello@vigilguard.com.au and a founder answers.
What counts as a Lookout flag?
The flag form asks what they were doing, not what they looked like. Loitering longer than a delivery, circling the block, retreating from a door after pressing the bell, tampering with a gate or window. Behaviour, not appearance. There is no race or ethnicity field. Appearance-only flags are rejected.
Are photos visible to other members?
Never. If you attach a photo to a flag, it is never broadcast. Other members receive a behaviour description and a postcode-level alert. Never an image, never a face.
What happens after I flag something?
Six steps. You tap and describe. The flag enters the Lookout queue, indexed by postcode and time. In the founding pilot, it is reviewed before it counts. If three or more independent flags appear in the same suburb in the last 90 minutes, a quiet alert goes to members within 500m. Once patrol is licensed in your state, the nearest car is redirected. Every flagger that night gets a free pass on their account.
What is a verified neighbour?
A resident another member has vouched for. Each vouch ties a real name to a real home, and the vouches link into a verified constellation of trusted neighbours across your street. A denser verified network resists fake flags: a cluster built from vouched residents carries weight, while a burst of flags from accounts nobody recognises does not. It works alongside our record of who flags whom to keep the Lookout a safety tool, not a weapon.
Will the app ever ask me to confront someone?
No. Vigil Guard does not invite members to confront, follow, or surround anyone. The alert tells you to stay inside and lock your doors. That is the entire response we ever ask of you.
What happens to bad-faith flags?
Repeated flags that describe people by appearance, target a specific home or person, or appear designed to harass get the membership suspended. The Lookout is a safety tool, not a weapon.
Do my neighbours see my identity when I flag something?
No. Other members within 500m receive a short, plain alert: "A suspicious presence has been flagged near you in the last hour. Lights on. Doors locked." The originating member's identity is not in the alert.
Is the Lookout extra cost?
No. The Lookout is included on every tier (Watch, Patrol, and Estate) from membership day one. It does not depend on patrol licensing. Flag a real concern, get a free pass on your account that night if it clusters.
The Lookout · included on every tier
The crew doesn't move
until the scout moves first.
Thank you. We'll be in touch.