Time to make new friends -at the Information Commissioner's Office ?

Its only been a day since my last entry, i could really quit my full time job and do meshtastic stuff full time.. not the fun stuff like going up a hill freezing my bits off seeing how far i can get however. 

My inbox is full of MQTT questions, most of which im unsure of myself, thats why my tech bods are around as they really are the bright sparks in this... LIIZZII ? See i even spelt your name right this time? 

Lots of portions of this are still open to interpretation and unless im totally stupid there is no strict clear ruling on node reporting and displaying on a map.. And when someone mentions GDPR and data security you have to take it serious ( yay for simple hobbies ) 

Not going to lie i have consulted with some very clever technical guys ( who volunteer i might add ) on the grounding of all this, oh and access to a pretty significant legal team helps a lot - i pay them in whisky and that stuff isn't cheap.

Ive a meeting setup with the ICO now as even though this is a hobby there are guidelines that Ben says i have to play nice in.. thanks Vektor.. compliance humbug.

I want clarity on what we can and cannot show on our map, its community based but also i don't want to be homeless thanks. " just five pounds a month can power marks node and a sleeping bag" you said that in that voice from the TV right?

As things stand now and having spoken to both the ICO and our counsel MQTT nodes are staying on the map. Couple of things are going to change very quickly like the fact you must log in to see the MQTT nodes and our policy on removing yourself from the MQTT node display.

Again i must emphasise that we only display what is coming form the Meshtastic MQTT server in the US and yes i also understand the responsibility for showing it on our UK map sits with us 

WE ARE NOT LEAKING YOUR DATA!!!!!!!!!!!

Also we are not responsible for what is shown on other peoples maps, i mean, that's obvious right?

Until im told by some compliancy office in the UK its staying, unless of course the community says otherwise - this is YOUR map - the founders are just picking up the tab - i mean that's fine for Andy in his Bentley  with his helicopter on the east  lawn of course.

We are working on keeping everyone happy here and its no small task, i should say however if this turns into a legal issue the founders and tech team will be voting on removing these MQTT nodes once and for all, especially if it effects our community map that all you lot helped building the first place.

Bored of me talking about MQTT yet? 

Thanks to the Founders Neil, Ben and Andy for working on this.. you lot knew what you were getting into when i asked you to be a part of this, well kinda.

And bigger thanks to our tech team Liizzii, Vektor, Kilo and Hawkins for giving advice and viewpoints that are invaluable to decision making.

Also thanks to everyone who joined our discord, our little community is growing and trust me when i say we are trying our best to listen to every single one of you.

Here's the link again: https://discord.gg/BrnwYUdgxS

Roll on Friday when i can actually get to play with me node?! after all, this is the hobby isnt it?

Oh and yes its RAK testing week, hopefully we can get moving on these and get the £1 pre orders on the store! - nothings leaving us without going through our verification / test procedure mind so don't ask.

Heltecs arriving this week my business account manager says too, i trust this when its in my sticky mits though.

73's as they say.

Mark

AKA xraymark