Tuesday 10 March 2020

I've learned to be more careful with my families privacy!

As a blogger I know I have to take mine and my families privacy seriously, I have always known that but I think over the 7 years that I have been blogging I have learned a lot. 


Over all the time I have been blogging I have realised there is some things that I just don't share, ever, some things I am really careful about sharing and some things I will just go ahead and share fully. There are times when I have made mistakes regarding my families privacy. Not that I would ever admit it at the time because it would make it glaringly obvious the mistake I had made. 

I had always thought I was clever blurring out the badge on my girls school uniform. I had the advantage when they were at primary school that there was about 6 or so primary schools in the academy they went to but after that, to be honest it didn't take a genius to work out what secondary school they used to go to. Now I don't take any more photos of Ellie in her school uniform. I think when she first started her new school I took a photo, from the back and put it in black and white so it was unrecognisable.

I did a whole blog post about a day in my life and edited the video to go with it and it was only when I was showing my fella the uploaded but private video he noticed the number on the wheelie bin was showing. It wouldn't matter if anyone saw the number because there is easily a million of the same one in Scunthorpe but I went and edited it and blurred it out. I am being extra careful now.

Way back in 2013 I wrote a blog post about how we were evacuated from our house because of a house fire next door. I didn't think of how it would be on the North East news. It was first suspected to be arson as the wheelie bin was lit and put against the back door. The police eventually decided that it wasn't arson but I am still pretty sure it was and the couple next door were too. They left and didn't come back because they felt threatened. 


I was fairly new to blogging and it's not every day that you have firemen banging on the door at 3am in the morning shouting get out. When I wrote the blog post I knew everyone was safe and out of the house unharmed, so what harm would it do to write about it! It was all good until the North East News showed their house and said what street it was. It wouldn't have taken a genius to work out what number I lived at! That post was quickly deleted.

What I have been careful of is sharing my girls full names online. Stu and I don't have the same surname but the girls do have his name. Ellie was born with Stu's surname and Becky's was changed by deed poll. I have never used their full name online and neither have they! There was a time a couple of years ago where one of my girls full name was used online by someone else and I soon put a stop to that. Now their names are no longer online and the girls know not to use them online too.

When we moved house it gave me a 2nd chance at being a bit more private. A lot of my girls old school friends knew I blogged but now they have new friends there is just one who knows and I like it this way. I am still careful about what I share about the girls. They read every blog post which mentions them and if they say no it doesn't get published. I share a lot less about them, now that they are older, that's for sure.

Moving house also gave me chance to keep where we live a bit more private. There is only my real life friends, family and a handful of people online who know where we live. Yes, we live in Scunthorpe but just outside in one of the many, many villages/towns. I may have pooped myself when another blogger private messaged me to say they recognised my house by the photos that I took not long after moving here. It turns out she lives about a 10 minute walk away in the same village/town. hahaha Thank goodness she is a lovely person and not a random nutcase. 

Over the past few months I have been itching to blog about things that have happened in the town where I live but if I did it would totally give it away where I am. Considering it's such a small town their is some juicy gossip. I am being more careful about the photos I take locally. I am trying  not to take photos of the streets around where we live unless it's dark or well away from my house.

There is so much I keep private in my life especially since we moved from Northumberland. I have learned so many lessons about privacy in the seven years that I have been blogging. I am being a lot more careful now and I think that is the best thing for my family.

10 comments :

  1. Wise words Kim and I am mentally going over some of the stuff I have posted. We live in worrying times and I am glad your family are safe and sound.

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    1. Thank you. There is so much to think about! x

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  2. You are absolutely right. I know you don't, but it always surprises me when people broadcast that they are going away, with a countdown. As you know, addresses can be discovered. I don't share names, faces or birthdates of my children. Nothing truly personal. I don't think it is fair on them. Makes my blog less attractive to sponsorship, etc, but I prefer it that way. #mmbc

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    1. We went away one Christmas and said nothing online until we were just about back home. It was hard to keep the secret but it made me feel better.
      I had never actually noticed your children weren't shown. Your blog works without their faces on it. x

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  3. it does get worrying giving away your identity and where you live. I gave my kids fake names(almost) from the start (I do have other blogs still live that mention their real names) I've never had to deal with stalking but I imagine it would be real scary. My older kids are very savvy when it comes to online privacy and I very rarely mention them. It's a shame because they both had very interesting birth stories which I published but removed on their request.

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    1. It is worrying. I did think about giving fake names when I started blogging but I knew I wouldn't be able to stick to it. I honestly forget sometimes that you have 2 older kids as they're not mentioned but you do have to respect their privacy x

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  4. It sounds like you've done a pretty good job of protecting your family's privacy, but I think we all make minor errors from time to time - I do wonder if I give too many details of my son's athletics for example. The house fire would definitely have been a problem! It's good that you get the chance to start afresh now you're in a new area.

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    1. I am certainly more careful now about what I post and share. It is hard sometimes.
      Starting afresh has been fantastic for us. Thank you x

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  5. I think you are wise to keep certain information private. The Internet and doing the right think is hard to grt right, but your moving forward x

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  6. I could blog interesting stories of the older grandchildren but not my story to tell. Ours have always had nick names and children are never named.
    Does get more difficult as they get older, hence my blog bring so boring now.
    Nice only one person knows you blog in your new area.

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