Account deletion request

[CJKay]

Hi,

I'm looking to delete this account if possible and, ideally, wipe any data associated with it. Given the time between my last post and now totals almost 40% of my lifetime, I think it's a fairly reasonable request. As my old posts on here still show up with a quick Google of my username, I'd much rather it wasn't just a simple ban.

Cheers!

[Solar]

I'm not a moderator, but it is generally a bad idea to delete all of a user's post. That usually renders whole threads non-sensical as other users suddenly appear to have talked to themselves, or making up quotes out of thin air.

I understand the sentiment -- "I was so young and inexperienced back then" -- but that's the internet for you. Take care what you write, it can be tracked back to you decades later.

[~]

I'm not a moderator, but it is generally a bad idea to delete all of a user's post. That usually renders whole threads non-sensical as other users suddenly appear to have talked to themselves, or making up quotes out of thin air.

I understand the sentiment -- "I was so young and inexperienced back then" -- but that's the internet for you. Take care what you write, it can be tracked back to you decades later.

I think it's already too late, unless the website makes a private backup of every post made.

He has overwritten all of his messages and post titles with <deleted>

[Solar]

That just shows he still hasn't really grown up, doesn't it?

At this point, I'd refuse to delete his account on purpose. Let the shame persist.

[SamTouraz]

That just shows he still hasn't really grown up, doesn't it?

At this point, I'd refuse to delete his account on purpose. Let the shame persist.

Nobody has mentioned data protection laws here...

[stevewoods1986]

That just shows he still hasn't really grown up, doesn't it?

At this point, I'd refuse to delete his account on purpose. Let the shame persist.

Nobody has mentioned data protection laws here...

I know. According to the news, there will be a right to erasure in May 2018 (General Data Protection Regulation).

[hgoel]

Too bad laws don't apply retroactively though

[Solar]

Forum posts are not "personal data", which is what that "right to erasure" refers to. Having your profile wiped (to e.g. "user1234") so no-one can link your posts to your person is one thing. Deleting all your contributions retroactively from the forum is destructive.

[MichaelFarthing]

But that, of course, has already been achieved.

[no92]

None of the moderators (including me) are able to delete accounts. What we can do is permanently ban an account (preventing you from logging in), but if that's what you really want then it's easy for you to simply not log in. Note: You are also able to change your password and/or email address to "random gibberish" if you want to make sure you can't change your mind and log back in at a later time.

The other thing we could do is delete all your previous posts manually. In general this would turn every conversation you've been involved in into a butchered mess (e.g. people replying to things that are no longer present, etc); and for this reason moderators won't do it.

Long story short, only chase can delete accounts (good luck with that one).

Also, osdev.org is based in the US (?). Dunno whether EU laws apply there

[stevewoods1986]

Forum posts are not "personal data", which is what that "right to erasure" refers to. Having your profile wiped (to e.g. "user1234") so no-one can link your posts to your person is one thing. Deleting all your contributions retroactively from the forum is destructive.

According to the European Commission "personal data is any information relating to an individual, whether it relates to his or her private, professional or public life. It can be anything from a name, a home address, a photo, an email address, bank details, posts on social networking websites, medical information, or a computer’s IP address."

The data controller is the one who is responsible.

You can get fined around 10-20 million euros. Do we want to risk this because of the severity of personal data on this forum?

None of the moderators (including me) are able to delete accounts. What we can do is permanently ban an account (preventing you from logging in), but if that's what you really want then it's easy for you to simply not log in. Note: You are also able to change your password and/or email address to "random gibberish" if you want to make sure you can't change your mind and log back in at a later time.

The other thing we could do is delete all your previous posts manually. In general this would turn every conversation you've been involved in into a butchered mess (e.g. people replying to things that are no longer present, etc); and for this reason moderators won't do it.

Long story short, only chase can delete accounts (good luck with that one).

Also, osdev.org is based in the US (?). Dunno whether EU laws apply there

The US could have even stricter laws with data protection.

[no92]

I guess you could mail chase - that's what WHOIS is for, after all?

[iansjack]

EU Data Protection regulations only apply to companies or organizations who have a presence in an EU country. So a private individual based in the US running a forum where people freely choose to post their opinions/information would not be subject to these regulations. I doubt that any US Data Protection laws would apply in such an instance either.

[stevewoods1986]

EU Data Protection regulations only apply to companies or organizations who have a presence in an EU country. So a private individual based in the US running a forum where people freely choose to post their opinions/information would not be subject to these regulations. I doubt that any US Data Protection laws would apply in such an instance either.

US have their own Data Protection laws. It may be much stricter than the EU laws (European Union). Data protection laws are almost everywhere. It is still illegal to break them, even if you don't get caught. If you downloaded copyrighted material off the Internet, it's illegal unless the copyright owner has died, the copyright is over 70 years (in the UK) or it has been released to the public.

Anyway, someone is asking for their account to be deleted. That doesn't hurt the forum. If someone wants to do something with their account, that's their decision. You would have to delete their account if they were under 13 (Article 8 of General Data Protection Regulation or Children's Online Privacy Protection Act 1998).

We should allow the option of deleting forum threads, posts and accounts, regardless of the severity of personal data on this forum. The data processor should be allowed since he/she was the one to give data in the first place. There is no longer consent from that person to keep data.

To be quite honest, I wouldn't care if you didn't delete this person's account. I am just telling you it would be a good idea to have the right of erasure.

[iansjack]

US Data protection laws are considerably weaker than EU ones, current and proposed. And, no; it is not illegal for a US citizen, living in the US, to break EU laws in the US - otherwise would be plainly ridiculous.

Talk of copyright is irrelevant; that is nothing to do with data protection. (BTW, having been involved with copyright during a 35-year career, I can assure you that your ideas of when copyright applies are totally erroneous - irrelevant, as it happens, as copyright is not under discussion.)

I'd leave it up to the site owner to worry (or, rather, not worry) about data protection legislation.