Happy New Year everyone!
May this year be free of drama or if that's not possible, at least be low-drama for all!
I checked and my email this morning and wouldn't you know it – there was an ecard from my mother's stalker/the man who pretended to be my long-lost father (we were NC – initiated by him after a rageful outburst – when I found out the truth so he doesn't know that I know).
The whole thing struck me as fishy, so I didn't open the card and instead went to the website to see whether the cards come with invisible read receipts. And lo – they do.
So I deleted the card without opening. Then I got wary and sent myself an ecard from the same site, just to see what triggers the read receipt.
, it's opening the
email, not clicking the link as I'd thought. No consent pop-up, no nothing. I'm sure this is illegal by all European data protection laws in existence so WTF! I guess I walked right into that one.
I figured since the read receipt was already sent, I might as well read whatever BS he's written. It only said: "May the new year be better than the one that has just ended. Papa and [name of his wife]"
Harmless, thankfully. Lack of accountability, as usual. And he's got no clue that I know.
I then blocked this card service's email on two fronts: my email provider, and on the website directly. So if the stalker tried to pull that stunt again, he'd get a pop-up saying "[Email] has chosen not to receive ecards. There is nothing we can do. It is only up to [Email] to change this."
Then I hesitated, wondering what's better: to make it passively clear I want nothing to do with him, or to just block the cards on my end with him never knowing whether they've been delivered (save for the lack of read receipts)? The first would definitely rouse his anger and possibly escalate the situation; the second might pique his curiosity and create an open loop in his mind ("Maybe she didn't get my message... I'll try again"). Then again, his daughter very clearly broke off all contact with him too, and he kept pestering her over the years regardless. Hm, hm.
On second thought, I removed my email address from the card provider blacklist and only retained the block on my end. Zero confrontation, just no gratification of his desire for control. I'm not sure that's the right thing but I guess we will see. Things wither and die through indifference, they say. I hope this one does, too.
