If at some point you want to delete your account and have your posts and comments be gone, you better delete it all manually before you actually delete the account, because that deletion process does not really work as advertised.
For my main account on world (which runs an outdated lemmy version), it seemed like at least the account deletion was federated so that my user page was no longer browsable from other instances, but none of my posts, comments or images had been deleted, not even on the home instance.
The homie @MrKaplan@lemmy.world helped me by manually deleting my stuff, but it seems like that has only worked for the home instance, posts and comments seem to still be readable from other instances (except for some of the images that MrKaplan manually deleted too, but that was only possible up to a date not too far in the past because lemmy used to not associate user uploads with the accounts). So my old posts from the world account can be viewed just fine from other instances:
For other instances that are more up to date the process is even worse imo, while locally things seem to get deleted, federation does not seem to happen at all. For example you can still browse my deleted slrpnk or lemmee accounts from other instances just fine:
https://slrpnk.net/u/achtungdrempels@lemm.ee
https://lemm.ee/u/AchtungDrempels@slrpnk.net
Account deletion in piefed works kinda like the old lemmy system (as on lemmy.world), and nothing gets deleted except the user page (which also seems to get federated), the posts and comments stay up.
Thought this would be interesting to some, if i had known what a mess this would be (obviously expected some federation issues, just not like that), i would have manually deleted everything. I deleted all these accounts in December, maybe this has been addressed somehow in the meantime, personally i’d have trust issues in this process.
Data privacy (the “right to be forgotten”) I’d say is the main reason. Say you realise that you’ve built up a little to much linkable information about yourself over the years and don’t want it readily available for whoever might want to make use of it.
Good use-case. Would it suffice to “unlink” the information in that case, instead of deleting it? I think that’d solve both problems. The posts and comments would stay in place for everyone to keep using them, but it’d say “by [deleted user]”, so it’s forgotten that you (or someone) wrote it.
I’m not sure. And we somehow need to present that to the user without overwhelming them with several options, delete account without data, delete account and unlink content, delete account and content…
It doesn’t matter. If someone believes they’ve linked too much and wants to delete it, they should be able to. If someone wants to delete their content for any reason they should be able to.
Honestly? No, they should t be able to blanket delete everything theyve posted on the off chance it’s identifiable information
They should have the right to find that info and remove it, but I’m 1000% against people potentially taking down useful information from society and I do not care that people want to whine about their “right” to take their fucking ball back and end the game
So much useful info gone from Reddit because babies didn’t want to keep supporting the bad site and now good luck finding it anywhere else
Exactly. And I sometimes find myself in the position where internet enshittification and content vanishing harms me more than it helps. So I’d like to balance this with the other side of the medal, where people might have legitimate interest to do so. But so far the argument has been “just because”. And for me, that argument doesn’t tip the scale to their direction. I still have tangible arguments not to over-delete. While the other side seems to be very theoretical.
You don’t get to decide what’s identifiable and what’s not. How do you know the useful information isn’t identifying?
@JackbyDev @gamermanh still you indentify as Netscape Navigator for me. ( First browser )
Great reading comprehension dude
You’re just assuming helpful information is somehow separate from identifying information. That’s not necessarily the case.
No, I’m not. As stated: reading comprehension
My problem is mass deletion without consideration. Obviously if something is identifiable: remove it, but don’t do so en masse without looking. It’s not ideal, but it’s your right to remove identifying info. If it doesn’t actually ID someone they should leave it the fuck alone
So if someone is worried they’ve compromised their identity you’d want them to have to manually sift through potentially thousands of posts and comments? 🙄
Which is it? Or do you just have a problem with being able to easily delete the information?
Probably a technical consideration (like what if they have an edit timestamp which would allow a dedicated person to find all the comments unlinked at the exact same time), a personal consideration (what if you actually want that information purged as thoroughly as possible), and a legal consideration (sounds like it violates the GDPR)
Tl;dr: Yes, it’s complicated.
Hmmh. I think 1) just means it has to be implemented properly. But you’re right. That sounds exactly like something a developer would do. Unlink the information and at the same time add a timestamp that immediately links it again 😅
And I’m not sure about 3) I’d have to read the GDPR again. Afaik it just mandates the user is provided with the ability to do so. Not that it needs to be the default.
And 2) is kind of my question. I suppose a user who is about to delete their account, might not be super relaxed and ready to deal with the intricate details. I mean they could be pissed and want out asap. Or something happened and they need to get it over with, quickly. Either way, it’s probably not the right time to bother them with 500 questions and make them learn about the consequences. Though… They need to do the right thing. Once their account is gone, and it turns out they would have liked to delete more (or less), that’s not really possible any more (without manual admin intervention). So maybe it’s down to: delete everything in any case, and accept that it has a negative effect on the content on the platform.
It also has to be balanced with handling abuse etc since malicious actors use the same features to cover their tracks.
But I’m probably getting way ahead of where we are. OP said deletion doesn’t even propagate through the federated network correctly. So realistically, we probably don’t need to bother with the details several steps down the line.