Can you please delete my account and my posts?

[SpecialGuest]

Dear scienceforums

Can you please delete my account and my posts according to the GDPR? 

[MigL]

The principles that must be respected by GDPR, in the EU, are

• fair and lawful processing;
• purpose limitation;
• data minimisation and data retention.

How is Science Forums violating these principles ?

[mistermack]

How can anonymous posts be classed as personal information?

[Phi for All]

As we explained to you last year when you made this request, your posts aren't covered under the GDPR. We've removed personal information before for other members, so we have no problems complying with requests like that even without the GDPR.

Your explanation was that it bothers you that your posts are "still up and running", but that's the nature of discussion forums. They remain to teach those who read them in the future, and removing your part in those discussions makes them incomprehensible. We want to help, but other members were involved in those discussions too, and it would be unfair to waste everyone's efforts. 

[StringJunky]

@Phi for All I don't care that I have 12000 posts, I want them got rid of now. If you don't I'll empty SFN of cheese nips. 

When one posts one should accept it's there forever and even if they were deleted, it is still kept under various government retention Acts or Decrees for some specified minimum time in the servers.

[hypervalent_iodine]

6 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

@Phi for All I don't care that I have 12000 posts, I want them got rid of now. If you don't I'll empty SFN of cheese nips. 

When one posts one should accept it's there forever and even if they were deleted, it is still kept under various government retention Acts or Decrees for some specified minimum time in the servers.

You’d have to find them all first.

[swansont]

1 hour ago, StringJunky said:

When one posts one should accept it's there forever and even if they were deleted, it is still kept under various government retention Acts or Decrees for some specified minimum time in the servers.

Not to mention internet archives.

 

Deleting all instances of a post means deleting where someone quotes the post, and asking that these be deleted means one is saying that their request supersedes anyone else’s desire to preserve their posts.

No, that’s not going to happen.

[Phi for All]

therammo, you started a thread called "will we live again?" that was still open but hadn't had a new post in over six years. I've just closed it, but I can't delete it. It's not "running" any more.

[StringJunky]

@swansont Some sites change the username to 'guest'. I remember a US site changed mine to 'Liberal Something'. Made me laugh.

[swansont]

59 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

@swansont Some sites change the username to 'guest'. I remember a US site changed mine to 'Liberal Something'. Made me laugh.

Something to consider… 

[Sensei]

21 hours ago, StringJunky said:

When one posts one should accept it's there forever and even if they were deleted, it is still kept under various government retention Acts or Decrees for some specified minimum time in the servers.

In most forum programs, when someone replies to your thread, their messages are emailed to every member who participated in that thread. So their contents are in their mailboxes and backups of companies hosting POP3 and SMTP servers. If someone uses a PC email application, copies of those emails (=posts on the forum), are on their drives..

I have disks with e-mails from 1997..

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by Sensei

[SpecialGuest]

On 4/29/2023 at 4:58 AM, Phi for All said:

As we explained to you last year when you made this request, your posts aren't covered under the GDPR. We've removed personal information before for other members, so we have no problems complying with requests like that even without the GDPR.

Your explanation was that it bothers you that your posts are "still up and running", but that's the nature of discussion forums. They remain to teach those who read them in the future, and removing your part in those discussions makes them incomprehensible. We want to help, but other members were involved in those discussions too, and it would be unfair to waste everyone's efforts. 

What are the GDPR requirements for handling personal data in forum posts:

Under GDPR, forum posts may be considered personal data if they contain information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person

. This can include names, email addresses, IP addresses, and other identifying information. To handle personal data in forum posts in compliance with GDPR, forum owners must obtain consent from users, provide users with the right to access, rectify, and erase their data, and ensure that they have a lawful basis for processing personal data

. Additionally, forum owners must be transparent about the data they collect and how they use it, and they must not use the data for any other purposes than they have told users

. If forum posts contain sensitive data, such as racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, additional requirements may apply

So as you can see, GDPR does apply in my case. My USERNAME is my real name and it is linking the posts TO ME. I will once again request that you delete all my posts and my username / account as I do indeed have rights under the European GDPR. This will also be the last time I am asking, before I include a lawyer in this. 

 

[StringJunky]

On 4/30/2023 at 7:06 PM, swansont said:

Something to consider… 

A few sites, I notice, put 'guest'.

[MigL]

1 hour ago, therammo said:

forum posts in compliance with GDPR, forum owners must obtain consent from users

Hate to break it to you, buttercup, but you were made aware of the rules when you joined.
That was, in effect, your contract and consent, because you had the option of not joining if you disagreed with the terms and conditions.

But maybe your lawyer ( Lionel Hutz ? ) can better explain.

[Genady]

1 hour ago, therammo said:

forum posts may be considered personal data if they contain information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person

Then all that's needed is for the requestor to identify what specific information they ask to be deleted in their account profile and/or their posts.

[exchemist]

1 hour ago, therammo said:

What are the GDPR requirements for handling personal data in forum posts:

Under GDPR, forum posts may be considered personal data if they contain information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person

. This can include names, email addresses, IP addresses, and other identifying information. To handle personal data in forum posts in compliance with GDPR, forum owners must obtain consent from users, provide users with the right to access, rectify, and erase their data, and ensure that they have a lawful basis for processing personal data

. Additionally, forum owners must be transparent about the data they collect and how they use it, and they must not use the data for any other purposes than they have told users

. If forum posts contain sensitive data, such as racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, additional requirements may apply

So as you can see, GDPR does apply in my case. My USERNAME is my real name and it is linking the posts TO ME. I will once again request that you delete all my posts and my username / account as I do indeed have rights under the European GDPR. This will also be the last time I am asking, before I include a lawyer in this. 

 

I do not believe anyone can identify you merely from the username “therammo”.

Nothing else in this list of yours would appear to be applicable. 

Edited May 28, 2023 by exchemist

[Phi for All]

Last I heard, Admins were going to change the account name, but leave the posts up so the threads make sense. Seems to be the best compromise. The name is obviously important and personal, and we don't want the others who participated to look silly, and we can stand by our commitment not to delete posts made in good faith.

[StringJunky]

Just make up generic name like 'Loser'.  

[Phi for All]

!

Moderator Note

This is NOT a GDPR issue, and an open appeal doesn't seem to be the correct course either. Staff is working with the opening poster behind the scenes to solve this particular problem. Thread closed.