CUK and volunteering?

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Mick F
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CUK and volunteering?

Post by Mick F »

Just got an email from CUK this afternoon.

It smacks of spam to me.
Has anyone else had this?
Screenshot of the email.
Screen Shot 2021-02-26 at 15.50.46.png
Mick F. Cornwall
Jdsk
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Re: CUK and volunteering?

Post by Jdsk »

Usual first checks:

* What email address did it say that it came from (not the displayed name)?
* What's the linked URL?

Jonathan
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Re: CUK and volunteering?

Post by ncutler »

I have received it also.

It looks genuine, from an org: goassemble.com

They say they provide 'volunteer management software' and I am assuming that one of the CUK wonks thinks this is a super-wonderful notion.

I don't intend to research this any further: my initial reaction is that this is yet another commercial attempt to batten onto the charity sector.
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Mick F
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Re: CUK and volunteering?

Post by Mick F »

The link is to https://www.goassemble.com
It lists CUK as well as other organisations.

It was only a few minutes ago that I looked at who the sender was.
Screenshot again.
Screen Shot 2021-02-26 at 16.56.10.png
Screen Shot 2021-02-26 at 16.56.10.png (7.21 KiB) Viewed 1334 times

Clicking (but not double-clicking) on the Cycling UK, shows mail@goassemble.com

Have a look at https://www.goassemble.com
Seems sort of ok, but I haven't clicked on anything or even accepted their cookies.

Spam, I reckon. It looks genuine, though I doubt it is.
I wondered if anyone else had this.
Note it's addressed personally by name to me but does NOT have a CUK address as the sender.
Mick F. Cornwall
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gaz
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Re: Cycling UK and volunteering?

Post by gaz »

Cycling UK do use the Assemble platform in connection with their volunteers. I've no receollection of the address my own email invitation originated from, it was a considerable while back.

https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/all-a ... r-platform

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backnotes
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Re: CUK and volunteering?

Post by backnotes »

It looks fine. The page where I log in to Cycling UK's Assemble platform is:

https://app.goassemble.com/.........

and so on. So Assemble is a firm that offers volunteer management software, that Cycling UK and other not-for-profits use. Their website https://www.goassemble.com/about/ explains what they do.

Of course now you have shared your top-secret temporary password with us, we can all log in and pretend to be you!

I see I could even send you a message from within Assemble if this is you, so it already knows of you:

Screenshot 2021-02-26 at 19.27.06.png
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Mick F
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Re: CUK and volunteering?

Post by Mick F »

I have no intention of opening their website or logging in.
Send messages if you want. Do and say what you want, but I won't be logging in to read them.

Also, I'm not renewing my CUK membership at the next renewal time. I stopped my direct debit months ago.
Never really forgiven them for disbanding CTC.

So, it's not spam, but it may as well be.
Mick F. Cornwall
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Re: CUK and volunteering?

Post by Psamathe »

Mick F wrote:...
Screenshot again.Screen Shot 2021-02-26 at 16.56.10.png
Clicking (but not double-clicking) on the Cycling UK, shows mail@goassemble.com

Have a look at https://www.goassemble.com
Seems sort of ok, but I haven't clicked on anything or even accepted their cookies.

Spam, I reckon. It looks genuine, though I doubt it is.
I wondered if anyone else had this.
Note it's addressed personally by name to me but does NOT have a CUK address as the sender.

It annoys me when I get (or see) any e-mail where the human readable "from" address is pretending to be from somewhere other than the real e-mail address - they are misleading you. Some online shops do it trying to get you to leave them a review on TrustPilot (my response is to submit a subject access request and have them delete all data stored about me and set my mail server to discard any further e-mails from them).

I regard it a fraudulent, an e-mail sent under false pretences. They could have been honest in their e-mail address and put "Cycling UK" in the subject so you could assess the e-mail for what it really is not through masked sender.

Ian
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Mick F
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Re: CUK and volunteering?

Post by Mick F »

Here's the exchange I've just been on email about.
Hopefully, all this explains it.


Dear Mick,

My colleague made me aware of a post in the Cycling UK forum referring to an invitation to Assemble, the Cycling UK volunteering platform.

The invitation is related to your forum role as a forum moderator/spambuster and is a genuine invitation.

There has been a conversation going on between Alex Cuppleditch (now on maternity leave) and Anthony regarding the need to register forum moderators as volunteers. I was under the impression you were aware of this. If you were not I am sorry and I could have sent a personal email to explain rather than the automatic Assemble email.

Nothing will change in your set up as a moderator/spambuster, the only change is that there is a direct link to Cycling UK in case you should want to contact us.

I hope this clears things up.

Kind Regards,

Gjoril

Gjoril Berg
Acting Volunteering Manager (Maternity Cover)
Cycling UK
Direct Line: 01483 238336
Mobile: 07464 521395
Main Line: 01483 238301
Email:gjoril.berg@cyclinguk.org
Web: http://www.cyclinguk.org
Hi and good evening.

Sorry, not aware of any of this and the email did not come from CUK. Had it done, I wouldn’t have even considered there was an issue.
I’d never heard of Assemble, and to be frank, it came over as out and out spam.

I’m a very long-standing member of the forum. My time goes back to the old-old forum, and the old forum as well. This present one only goes back to 2007, but my membership of the forum goes back to 2004. The forum is now in the third re-incarnation to my knowledge.

I’m a Spambuster. I tidy up issues and edit out swearing and bad language, approve and disapprove new posters, and delete spam and ban frequent spammers. I’m not the most diplomatic of people and am admittedly not suited to moderation. The moderators are very much aware of my position on this and are happy with it too and happy that I help out.

I’m aware I’m that I'm a “volunteer” to do all this, and I’m also aware I can stop or carry on at my pleasure. I don’t need or want any official volunteer position. I’m also on record of not renewing my membership of CUK this year, but I will carry on as a Spambuster on the forum for the foreseeable future.

Best wishes,
Mick.
Mick F. Cornwall
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Mick F
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Re: CUK and volunteering?

Post by Mick F »

This is being considered by forum staff.
Mick F. Cornwall
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Re: CUK and volunteering?

Post by Psamathe »

(Recognising my personal strict attitude to privacy) I'd say it looks like they [Cycling UK] have passed details about you (name, contact info, maybe more) to a 3rd party [goassemble.com] without your permission. Have they already given you the Privacy policy of goassemble.com, explained the way goassemble.com protect your information, told you about the jurisdiction of goassemble.com (e.g. US vs EU have very different laws about who can get access to your information), etc. and done all this in advance os passing them your details. (I assume not as you were unaware of what it was about).

Ian
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Re: CUK and volunteering?

Post by AndyK »

Psamathe wrote:(Recognising my personal strict attitude to privacy) I'd say it looks like they [Cycling UK] have passed details about you (name, contact info, maybe more) to a 3rd party [goassemble.com] without your permission. Have they already given you the Privacy policy of goassemble.com, explained the way goassemble.com protect your information, told you about the jurisdiction of goassemble.com (e.g. US vs EU have very different laws about who can get access to your information), etc. and done all this in advance os passing them your details. (I assume not as you were unaware of what it was about).

Ian

Assemble is not a company, it's an online system for volunteer management which Cycling UK makes use of. In UK GDPR terms, Cycling UK is the Data Controller and Assemble (specifically a UK company called DutySheet Ltd, I believe) is the Data Processor. So no, Cycling UK has not passed MickF's data to a third party. The communication is from Cycling UK. To send that communication, it has made use of a service provided by a technology company which complies with UK GDPR regulations on the role of the data processor.

I trust that answers your question.
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Re: CUK and volunteering?

Post by AndyK »

Having said all that, a notification like that should not come to anyone out of the blue. Either Cycling UK didn't tell the forum admins in advance, or the forum admins didn't tell MickF. Basically there was a failure of communication somewhere along the line, which is what it says in Gjoril's email.

Incidentally, I think MickF should have edited out Gjoril's phone number and email when quoting her post, as that will attract actual real spam and unsolicited phone calls to Gjoril. This is a public site, after all.
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Mick F
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Re: CUK and volunteering?

Post by Mick F »

The contact details are of a person in CUK.
They pay for this site.

Any road up, I'm leaving this with the mods. I'm in contact with them.
Mick F. Cornwall
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Re: CUK and volunteering?

Post by atlas_shrugged »

Have to say I am with Mick F on this one. If he received an email from a non-CUK organisation then his details were passed to that outside organisation.

That said GDPR was never about data protection for Joe Bloggs. A massively complicated bit of legislation the main purpose is for governments to gourge themselves on personal data (with grateful thanks to Snowden, Assange and the other heroes on this). Just as an example if you send your child to school in the UK then the details are passed to government including attendance records, religion of the child etc etc. The priceless bit is the parents are not allowed to be informed that this is happening. What could possibly go wrong?

CUK would be best served by looking after its members and especially all the amazing ones that do things to help out.
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