Sussex Neighbourhood Watch acts over ‘Nextdoor’ invitations

Sussex Neighbourhood Watch administrator Derek Pratt said some residents were upset by the invitations.

“We understand that some residents have received letters which infer that a neighbour has invited them to join Nextdoor, a US based social networking app which appears to be building a database to use advertising to connect neighbours with businesses,” he said.

“These letters may quote a code expiring in seven days. Some residents may find these approaches to be unwanted or distressing.

“We would like to remind you that you are under no obligation to respond to any such approaches.”

He said the Sussex Neighbourhood Watch Federation took people’s security and privacy of data ‘very seriously.’

“Your data available to us is kept very securely within the UK, and is not used for profit-making purposes.

“It is only shared with the Information Providers that you have agreed to receive messages from, most commonly Sussex Police, Action Fraud and Get Safe Online.”