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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

MNHQ here: Mumsnet’s approach to data protection and GDPR

99 replies

KateMumsnet · 10/05/2018 14:08

As lots of you will know, May 25 sees the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) - a new law covering data protection and privacy. As with any company that works with data, we’ve done some work to ensure that we’re fully compliant with GDPR. If you’d like to know more about what we’ve done, read on.

We have reviewed and updated our Privacy Policy and provided a page of Frequently Asked Questions.

We’ve made it easier to edit or delete the information you give us when you join Mumsnet -- your registration data. This might be no more than a username and an email address; you can have a functioning Mumsnet account with just those two things. However if you also told us your name, age, sex, how many children you have, and/or your postcode, it’s now easier to see how to edit or delete that information in your ‘My Account’ page.

The ‘My Account’ page is also where you can delete your Mumsnet account (although we would prefer you not to, obviously). Deleting your account will not delete your posts on Mumsnet but it will delete all the registration data associated with your account.

By popular request, we will not be deleting Private Message archives as originally planned.

If you receive any Mumsnet newsletters, you can unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of the email. If you have a Mumsnet account you can also subscribe and unsubscribe to any or all of them here.

As you use Mumsnet you might see a new notice that tells you when cookies are being used.
You can find details about how we use cookies in our Privacy Policy and FAQs. But in a nutshell, we use cookies to:

  • improve your experience by, for example, remembering that you have logged in and that you like reading threads top-to-bottom;
  • show you more relevant content and ads; and
  • gather aggregate information about how many people visit Mumsnet, how often, and what they look at while on the site (aka analytics).

Long-standing Mumsnet users may remember the Profile Page functionality that we rolled out to users many years ago. For now we have decided to default all existing public Profile Pages to ‘private’, so that MN users who have put personal information on their profiles have a chance to review and delete it if they want to. You can check whether you have a Profile Page, and edit or delete it over here.

If you’re looking for the My Photos page: we’ve suspended this for now - it wasn’t working well and needs a complete revamp. Any photos you had previously uploaded have been deleted from our systems.

In terms of MNHQ’s internal processes, we have put further restrictions in place around which staff members have access to Mumsnet users’ personal information.

We're emailing all our members to let them know about these changes. As ever, we really welcome your feedback. Do add comments below or email [email protected] if you have any thoughts, questions or concerns.

OP posts:
GnotherGnu · 17/05/2018 16:10

I'd rather not have PMs deleted automatically. Could we at least be allowed the option of keeping them?

DramaAlpaca · 17/05/2018 21:07

I really want to keep my PM's.

I've kept quite a few that are important to me for various reasons and I would be upset to see them go.

Can you please look at reversing this decision.

Sladurche · 18/05/2018 12:28

Email has always been opt-in, even before GDPR, because of PECR. SO you all would have originally opted in.

For the same reasons, marketing by legitimate interests can only be done by post under new rules.

As MN will have already had opt-in consent for email, they can offer you opt-out. I suspect the reason they are asking, is because under GDPR consent must have a time-limit which expires and they want to make sure it doesn't expire. It could be that they want to you consent with the revamped Privacy Policy, which I'm sure details all the things that they do with your data which you didn't previously know about, because DPA didn't mandate that you had them in there. GDPR says consent is only valid if people understand exactly what you're doing with your data. Nothing to do with opt-in or opt-out.

welshmist · 18/05/2018 13:38

Everyone and his dog is e mailing me now re: this new privacy thing, companies I have not seen an e mail from in years....

Sladurche · 18/05/2018 14:03

Everyone and his dog is e mailing me now re: this new privacy thing, companies I have not seen an e mail from in years....

I love it! Oooh, I'd forgotten about that-unsubscribe!!!!

GnotherGnu · 19/05/2018 08:16

I've had one particular charity email me 8 times so far begging me to confirm I still want to hear from them, even though I responded to the first one giving that confirmation. I've now reached the point where I'm severely tempted to go back and withdraw consent.

AsAProfessionalFekko · 19/05/2018 09:34

That's someone it tagging their mailing list incorrectly. If it's a charity it may be a volunteer or some poorly paid (inexperienced exec)

hipsterfun · 19/05/2018 18:18

I’ve sent PMs with my address under a specific-use username. If, say, an intern with an agenda had access to my name changes, that would be problematic.

hipsterfun · 19/05/2018 18:19

Meant to add...

So I’m in favour of PMs not being kept permanently.

Jux · 19/05/2018 18:45

Oh! I have no profile at all! Well, I tried my very first user name but it's not there and I'm pretty sure that would have been the one I set it up under.

Didn't you delete all profiles a few years ago?

Jux · 19/05/2018 18:48

Re PMs, I'm with Alpaca. I'd rather decide which ones to keep myself, rather than you decide.

PhilODox · 22/05/2018 06:20

My pms go back years....they're a timeline of my MN usage. I wouldn't want to lose that Sad
Please don't do this!
There's isn't a function to send pms to another email account, so they aren't like emails at all.

PhilODox · 22/05/2018 06:23

Also, pms are opt in (or at least they were originally) because I remember some MNers saying they weren't going to opt in (soupdragon for example).

claraschu · 22/05/2018 06:37

I really hope you will rethink the idea of deleting PMs. I don't see how they are a genuine threat to data security, and I think many people have information, memories, friendships, and stories which are significant to them stored in PMs. Not everyone will see this thread (I saw a TAAT which pointed me to this one) and not everyone will read it carefully enough to see the brief message about PMs embedded in it. You will not hear from everyone who feels strongly about this, some of whom might be quite shy about public posting.

KateMumsnet · 22/05/2018 14:29

Hello everyone

By popular request, we will not be deleting Private Message archives as originally planned.

Thanks
MNHQ

OP posts:
RatRolyPoly · 22/05/2018 14:51

Hooray!!! Thanks Kate.

Glaciferous · 22/05/2018 14:55

Thank you!

OhYouBadBadKitten · 22/05/2018 14:57

Brilliant! Thanks mn :)

hipsterfun · 22/05/2018 16:10

I’ve sent PMs with my address under a specific-use username. If, say, an intern with an agenda had access to my name changes, that would be problematic.

How many members of MNHQ staff will have accss to both PMs and lists of name changes? Will there be an audit trail?

After the Emma business I’m not happy that my name and address might easily be linked to my name changes.

DramaAlpaca · 22/05/2018 16:13

Thank you, much appreciated Gin

ChoccyJules · 22/05/2018 16:21
Grin
Ardant · 22/05/2018 17:14

Last try and then I'll stop as maybe I'm the only one who cares, but could you look at my post upthread? Thank you Smile

Dutchoma · 24/05/2018 09:20

Glad you are not deleting personal messages. I hope things stay the same after the 25th May as before. As far as I am concerned change more often than not is no improvement, however much it is advertised as such.

TheSassyAssassin · 04/06/2018 22:13

@MNHQ sorry if I have missed this but is there a new thing with PMs whereby if one party chooses to delete what they have either sent or received, it gets automatically deleted from the other's inbox/outbox? That's happening for me at the mo and wondered if it's a policy change?

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