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Checking Your Location by Geofencing

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  • TheMixTheMix Posts: 3,187 Boards Guru
    Hi everyone,

    So firstly, thank you so much for your patience whilst we got these answers together for you. We didn’t expect it to take this long but we’ve been having many discussions internally during this time. We’ve picked out what we think are the main questions here so hopefully we can clarify most of the points made here :)

    What is the big change in legislation and why weren’t we always checking community member’s locations?
    As you’re probably aware we merged with Mental Health Innovations (MHI) in 2024. MHI and Shout have a very high standard of data protection, and if you are posting on our Community, there is certain data we have to collect to enable you to post. We take your data privacy very seriously and we only process the data we absolutely need.

    This means that for The Mix to be compliant, we’ve introduced Geo-Fencing to help us get up to speed with MHI/Shout’s data protection policies. Rather than a big change in legislation, our organisation's data protection policies have changed. By checking if you’re in the UK and only allowing those in the UK to post, we’re ensuring we’re only collecting the data from those in the UK.


    Can you access our community whilst you’re on holiday outside of the UK?
    We ask that community members only access our services when they are in the UK. This is because in cases where we need to contact other services, such as emergency services, or signpost to other organisations, we can only safely and legitimately do this for those in the UK.

    When we contact the emergency services we’re contacting the UK-based force. If you were on holiday in Spain for example, the emergency services in the UK would not be able to directly help you. Also, when we’re keeping people safe, we are working within the UK Safeguarding Law. Which means we need to know if our community members are in the UK to ensure we are following the correct and relevant law.


    Are we excluding people from Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and the Channel Islands from accessing our services?
    As defined by the UK Government, the UK is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. And as we are a UK based charity, our services are for those in these four areas.

    This means those in Northern Ireland are welcome to use our services, however those in the Republic of Ireland or the Channel Islands cannot use our services as they are outside of the UK.


    Are we a registered charity in England, and if so what are our policies based on?
    The Mix is powered by Mental Health Innovations, a UK Charity Commission registered charity (charity number 1175670) that follows UK data protection legislation by GDPR and the UK Government's Data Protection Act 2018. MHI’s policies and standards are based on GDPR and the UK Government’s Data Protection Act 2018


    What if someone selects “No” by accident?
    If this does happen, please pop us an email to community@themix.org.uk and we can resolve this for you.


    How does the pop-up question prove whether or not you’re in the UK?
    The pop-up question basically relies on an element of trust and honesty. Whilst it cannot absolutely prove whether or not you’re in the UK, we’re trusting that you’re answering it truthfully.


    Please do let us know if there's anything we might've missed and we'll be sure to get back to you. You can also reach out to the team to talk to us about this privately by either DMing us on here or emailing community@themix.org.uk :)
  • independent_independent_ Community Champion Posts: 9,340 Supreme Poster
    edited March 27
    I think in future if something is down to the policies of the organisation rather than legislation, it’s really important to be clear on this. I think this is why people don’t understand things that are coming in because if they were the law, everywhere would be implementing them, and because they’re not people are confused and not happy with the changes. Legislation and policy are 2 very different things.

    It’s not illegal for someone outside the UK to use the mix. It’s against your own policy, but it’s not illegal.
    “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.”
  • KatieKatie Community Manager Posts: 426 Listening Ear
    Hey @independent_ we hear you, and we can definitely take this feedback on board for future changes around being clearer with our language and how we communicate them to you folks.

    It is a legal requirement for us to offer our services to those only in the UK as we are a UK Charity - this hasn't changed. However, this alongside our merger with Mental Health Innovations and us following their high standard of data protection, means we are now checking that we are only allowing those in the UK to access our services by introducing an extra function - Geo-Fencing.
  • independent_independent_ Community Champion Posts: 9,340 Supreme Poster
    Makes sense @Katie. :)

    It’s still a language thing though, and I definitely think the fact it is a combination of both (rather than just it’s the law) is important for us, as users, to understand. We should be aware of why we’re ticking that box, in the context of informed consent to data processing and all that.
    “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.”
  • eylaheylah Posts: 6,939 Master Poster
    its stopped popping up for me now
    ppl dont always need advice. sometimes all they rly need is a hand to hold. an ear to listen. and a heart to understand them. 🧸
  • independent_independent_ Community Champion Posts: 9,340 Supreme Poster
    It doesn’t come up much for me either @eylah but I do still get it occasionally.

    Also, if someone ticks no by accident, can’t they just sign out and back in again and it will come up again for them to tick yes and reverse their mistake? I’m not willing to test this in case I get locked out :joy:
    “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.”
  • shannon_164shannon_164 Community Champion Posts: 1,396 Wise Owl
    @independent_ you can just sign out then back in again yes - i learnt from being stupid and reading the question then proceeding to hit no when i am in fact very much so in the uk🤣
  • independent_independent_ Community Champion Posts: 9,340 Supreme Poster
    @shannon_164 handy to know, thank you! Helps to know for holidays too.
    “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.”
  • Amy22Amy22 Posts: 5,093 Part of The Furniture
    It hasn't popped up for me either now but it used to
    Just a person who likes pop culture and films
  • KatieKatie Community Manager Posts: 426 Listening Ear
    edited March 27
    independent_ wrote: »
    Makes sense @Katie. :)

    It’s still a language thing though, and I definitely think the fact it is a combination of both (rather than just it’s the law) is important for us, as users, to understand. We should be aware of why we’re ticking that box, in the context of informed consent to data processing and all that.
    Yes you're totally right @independent_ and we apologise we didn't make it clearer from the start. Thank you for sharing these thoughts with us - it's so useful for us to hear and be aware of.

    We're here to discuss and make it as clear as possible what it entails :)
    Post edited by Katie on
  • independent_independent_ Community Champion Posts: 9,340 Supreme Poster
    Katie wrote: »
    independent_ wrote: »
    Makes sense @Katie. :)

    It’s still a language thing though, and I definitely think the fact it is a combination of both (rather than just it’s the law) is important for us, as users, to understand. We should be aware of why we’re ticking that box, in the context of informed consent to data processing and all that.
    Yes you're totally right @independent_ and we apologise we didn't make it clearer from the start. Thank you for sharing these thoughts with us - it's so useful for us to hear and be aware of.

    We do still have time before this function goes live so we're here to discuss and make it as clear as possible what it entails :)

    @Katie this one is already live isn’t it? Is something else coming too?
    “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.”
  • KatieKatie Community Manager Posts: 426 Listening Ear
    Ahh you're right @independent_ I got my posts mixed up! Apologies but we are still here to discuss and help make it clear what it entails :)
  • independent_independent_ Community Champion Posts: 9,340 Supreme Poster
    All good @Katie 🤣🤣 I did the same last week!
    “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.”
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