Terry S.

The developers are very responsive and are working hard to improve Kahuti in line with feedback from users. There is no requirement to enter a full name and Kahuti will accept pseudonyms and a general location, so the privacy concerns with Nextdoor do not arise and there is no pressure from the site.

There are no Community Leaders so any conversations are open and uncensored. Everyone has been respectful in my community, so it hasnt been a problem. Areas viewed can be customised and easily changed between 1 and 25 miles and different areas can be viewed. Users are not bombarded with e-mails every time there is a post; there is the option of a daily summary (requested by users) and thats it. Users are not constantly badgered by the site to recruit neighbours. Free business listings are encouraged as are recommendations for reliable tradesmen.

Kahuti is being developed rapidly and has the potential to be even better than Streetlife. It has been warmly received, numbers are increasing daily and Kahuti communities are starting to spring up all over the country.

Kahuti appears to be the most suitable and popular of the replacements for Streetlife. The speed of development and response times show the founders are fully engaged with the site and they are now talking about mail shots to increase the number of users. This appears to be a serious site with the intention of remaining for the long term. I use Kahuti daily and look forward to it growing.

If you were on Streetlife and are looking for an alternative to Nextdoor, this looks like the best option. If not, it is still worth having a look.

I clicked the link in an e-mail to transfer from Streetlife to Nextdoor and did not need to input any information. I was only made aware of the security issues when I saw a post by a user on Streetlife the following day and I promptly closed my account. I was the first person to join Nextdoor in my locality and I was allocated to a neighbouring area I do not identify with, named Founding Member and given the exulted title of Nextdoor Lead without being asked if I wanted it.

Nextdoor insists on displaying the full name (first name and surname) of members together with the full street address. This is not disclosed by Nextdoor either before or after signing up. There is an option to hide the street number, but this option is not mentioned and unless members review their profile they will not be aware of it. Even if the street number is not displayed, members houses are highlighted on a map.

Streetlife only showed first name and first letter of surname and would accept pseudonyms. Locations were not displayed, so anyone transferring to Nextdoor could reasonably expect the same policy. Many members are likely to be unaware their full address is displayed. This may lead them to be careless with revealing information.

You may be interested in these articles on the subject of the security of online communities with specific reference to Nextdoor.

From the BBC News website on 9th February:
Streetlife users in Nextdoor privacy row
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-*******

From Colnbrook Views on 24th February:
Slough residents in quandary following Streetlife sellout
http://www.colnbrook.info/slough-residents-in-quandary-following-streetlife-sellout/

Please note the final sentence of the Colnbrook Views article:
Well over half of those who have so far signed up locally have not taken the basic step to hide the house number from their street address, the only sop to privacy that the site allows.

I have only given 1 star in this review of Nextdoor because 0 stars is not an option.

A safer alternative is Kahuti.com https://www.kahuti.com which does not insist on full names and will accept pseudonyms. It will accept a general location, is far more user-friendly and there is no pressure from the site. See separate reviews.

When you close your account with Nextdoor, make sure you instruct them to delete your ID and data.