• A GOSPEL Oak resident was surprised to receive a printed letter, complete with a convincingly faked stamped envelope, from a named resident in a nearby street inviting her to join something called Next Door Gospel Oak.

The person supposed to have sent the letter was even more surprised, as she knew nothing about it. Next Door is an online community network run from the US who bought a UK homegrown network called Streetlife a couple of years ago.

Many on Streetlife refused to transfer on the grounds of ND’s extremely poor privacy policy. Since then ND has burrowed is way into councils and the police, representing itself as a “trusted” channel of communication.

Using people’s names without their permission as a recruiting tool makes one wonder just how trustworthy Next Door might be.

CHRIS FAGG
Gospel Oak