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MNHQ

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

6 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.

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MNHQ

KateMumsnet · 10/05/2018 18:51

Hi LoudBatPerson - thanks for your thoughts.

We aren’t asking for re-consent at this stage because, as AngentHannah says, the people we email have already given unambiguous consent (and can unsubscribe or change which newsletters they get at any time). Our emails are mainly useful, rather than marketing or products, so we're taking the view that there’s a 'legitimate interest' in processing that data - and that it would be a pretty dreadful user experience for most people to have to sign up for everything again. It's a similar approach to services like Twitter, Money Saving Expert, eBay and EE - but we're planning regularly to review this, so thanks very much for your feedback.

MNHQ

KateMumsnet · 11/05/2018 15:09

So there is still no way to delete forum posts?

Hi @sleep5, @coffeecupofmilk and @Onceuponatimethen

We’re very happy to delete individual posts if you’re worried you’ve said too much - just hit report on that post and explain the problem. If you’re worried about lots of your posts, or think that someone ‘in real life’ has worked out your identity, you can also request a retrospective name change - this means that all your previous posts will appear under a different username. Posts are publicly-available content (rather than data) and our T&Cs do say that when you post on site, you allow us to use your posts in perpetuity. Our overall view is that threads with lots of holes in them are a poor user experience for the community as a whole, which is why we don't offer the option to delete them.

Does this mean that the bit where you change your username and then are asked for a first name has changed?

Apols for missing this earlier @coffeecupofmilk - yes, that has been changed. 'First name' is no longer a field on your 'My Account' page - it now appears on the 'About You' page and is completely optional.

Can you please explain how the amount of information the company on thread are asking for is compliant with your data privacy policy?

Apart from username, all the information requested in that product test is actually necessary in order to receive the product in question. Till now, we’ve often asked for so that we have two ways of contacting those who are selected to take part (DM and email). We’ve never passed this info on to the partner companies we work with (though of course we only work with partners who themselves have robust privacy policies). It’s never been compulsory to give your username in order to take part, and after the 25 May when GDPR comes into effect, we’ll no longer be asking for usernames at all.

It appears to me that our data is transferred outside the EU, is this correct?

Yes, that’s correct for some companies, including Google - but the GDPR will apply equally to all businesses that market to or do business with European Union member states, regardless of where in the world that business is located.

How does this work with the fact that the period boxes were sent to wrong people and what steps have you taken to ensure that doesn’t happen again?

As part of our preparations for GDPR we’ve looked closely at how we do things internally - we are tightening both the processes by which data is handled by staff in relation to things like competitions and product tests, and we’ve considerably reduced the number of staff who have access to any personally identifying information.

Thanks,
MNHQ

MNHQ

sandymumsnet · 16/05/2018 13:25

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your thoughts here it's always very valuable to receive your feedback.

On our decision to delete private messages after 60 days, we’re going to see how people feel about our this by keeping a close eye on this thread and in Site Stuff. When we get more feedback we can decide what next.

In terms of deleting posts, if you’re worried that you’ve said too much or divulged personal information we’re very happy to delete individual posts - just hit report on that post and explain the problem.

MNHQ

sandymumsnet · 16/05/2018 15:59

@Coffeecupofmilk

Hi sandy

Could you answer this

you allow us to use your posts in perpetuity.

In Kate’s post as I think it contravenes GDPR. And could you answer my question as in if you can foresee a time when someone asks for posts to be deleted and you refuse?

Also can you advise if info previously provided at sign up, such as first name, has now been deleted?

Hi Coffeecupofmilk

Thanks so much for your feedback. Our view is that posts are not private data - although anonymous they are visible to everyone on the internet. Our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions make this clear, but we'll continue to keep open minded on this. And irrespective of the legal definition of private data, we would never withhold deleting a post without good reason.

As part of the changes we've made for GDPR, we've now made it easier for you to change any of your account details including the deletion of your name by going to the My Account page.

MNHQ

sandymumsnet · 16/05/2018 17:47

@coffeecupofmilk

I disagree re personal data but that's the nature of law Smile

Can you advise if information previously given at sign up such as first name has been deleted ?

Hi coffeecupofmilk Info such as first name has not been deleted - although we're happy to take a view on this. Sorry if you've already clocked this but you can delete it yourself by going to the My account page.

MNHQ

KateMumsnet · 22/05/2018 14:29

Hello everyone

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

Thanks
MNHQ

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