To think MNHQ were crass and unprofessional to send me a sensitive e-mail on a PC which my DH and DC have access to?

[wildswans]

Last night I posted a bulimia related thread, which received a large number of responses. Today it was transferred to Mental Health by MNHQ: no problem there in as much as they run the site and they considered that there were good reasons for doing so.

However, MNHQ have tonight sent me an e-mail providing an explanation for their actions (which I had not sought - i was a bit unhappy at the thread being moved TBH, but respected their decision). The e-mail refers to mental health issues. It was sent to my e-mail address which is that of the family PC, which my DH and DC use regularly. Very fortunately - and actually quite unusually - I happened to get to the PC before anyone read this message and deleted it - or I would have had a lot of explaining to do. I would have been mortified if my family had found out about very personal and private things - which i thought were being treated in the greatest of confidence and believing I had anonymity.

I now feel that i do not dare to risk posting anything else of a sensitive nature because it is not being treated with sensitivity and confidence. i would just say to others, you need to beware of this.

I do accept that i provided my e-mail address as a contact address, but i really think that, in a matter as sensitive as this, MNHQ could have just e-mailed me in the first instance to check whether the link was secure and/or asked me to telephone them, which I would have been happy to do.

Do you seriously think that they have the time to do this for everyone? There's thousands of members on here.

You shouldn't have signed up to MN with a shared email account.

Now change it.

Ummm... You chose to use that email address when you signed up. Strange to complain that they've used precisely the email address that you gave them.

Why do you not have a private e-mail address? It is a shared computer, if you want things to remain private, then use a private e-mail address.

You only have anonymity with privacy.

I think it's perfectly acceptable to presume that contact email addresses are personal to the user, and not 'family' accounts (who does this btw?) so therefore YABU

How were MNHQ suppose to know its a shared email?

Why would your emails be opened by anyone else?

How were hq to know it was a shared email?

Lordy - get your own email account.

It was your mistake not mnhq's.

Sorry, but YABU. You used the email address when you registered. How are MNHQ meant to know it is a family email address.

I suggest you change to a personal email address.

Register a different e-mail address with MNHQ and then you won't have this issue. You can change your details easily by clicking on My Mumsnet above.

You need to have a different email address then. Its not really anyones fault but yours. That is the contact you listed.

Get a private email address then. There is no data protection breach in sending an email to a member's registered email address. YABU.

You were posting on a public forum about things you'd not even told your family about, I don't think MNHQ were responsible for that.

I think the key is that you should only use a private email address if you are sighning up for a forum where you will post information you don't want shared. Have you changed your contact email address on mumsnet yet? If not, do it now.

Shared computer and shared email? Don't post sensitive issues on a forum linked to this email address. Equally, someone could have PM'd you.

Use a private email account!

How were they supposed to know that its a shared account.

You want privacy you use a private account. Simples!

MNHQ have no way to know where anyone reads their emails

I can see why this was sensitive for you, but logging into or out of your email account would prevent anyone seeing it, who shouldn't.

Perhaps if they sent a more 'vague' email just saying 'your recent thread was moved, please contact us if you need more information' might be a good idea

But ultimately, it is a public forum so you can't expect to be treated in utmost confidentiality.

I think the problem is that you had supplied your email address to mumsnet as a contact, so it was reasonable of them to contact you in this way, because the assumption is that your email is private and only you know the password etc. In future maybe best to have a separate email address that you can provide which is not your usual one and which isn't as easily accessed by your family. I can relate though to the shock you must've had when you saw what a close call you'd had and I'm glad you managed to get to the computer before others did.

Are you serious? They used the address you gave as a contact address to errrrrrrrr contact you. Contacting you furthermore to offer you a courteous explanation and you start a thread moaning because you've been frankly daft enough to join an anonymous forum using a group address. YAB so U it's absurd. Now change your e-mail.

to check the link was secure

They're mumsnet not the CIA....

YABU

Why haven't you got a private email account?

You are being ridiculous, my son and I share a laptop and we have separate password protected logins.
Personal e-security is your responsibility.

Hello OP
We have not mailed you again as per your request - as certainly don't want to cause any upset= that's not what we're about.
Do let us know if you change your email address and it's okay to contact you again.
Thanks
MNHQ