Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Getting an Uncooperative Website To Delete One's Account?
First time accepted submitter trentfoley writes "I've been trying to clean up my digital life (insert joke about having a life) and have run into a situation I fear is too common. Many social websites, nextdoor.com in particular, do not allow a user to delete the account they created. In the case of nextdoor.com, their privacy policy makes it clear that the user owns all of their data. If this is true, I should have the right to destroy that data. These lines of thought brought to mind the recent privacy defeat in Europe. Does the defeat of the EU's Right-to-be-Forgotten legislation bring a practical end to this debate?" I've read complaints today from Nextdoor.com users who say their data was sold, too.
I've gotten a lot of sites that don't let you delete accounts to delete the account by simply calling them. Their numbers are often hard to find but get them on the phone and ask nicely.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
Discussion lists traditionally don't give you a right to delete previous postings: Usenet and mailing list archives are forever. One rationale is simply technical inability (archives aren't controlled by a central authority), but there's also a sense that deleting miscellaneous posts from archives fragments the record of past conversations.
So, Nextdoor has forums and discussions. It seems fair to me that they don't retroactively delete posts from those. Therefore they need to maintain some kind of attribution to the now-deleted account. So they can't fully delete the account, in the sense of wiping any traces, but they could just make it a non-operable "deactivated" account that still has the posts attributed, but can't be used anymore. They might agree to hide the profile in this case, as well. Turns out, that is precisely what they do support.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Move to a neighbourhood not covered by their service.
You need to start off being more careful. Be very suspicious / paranoid about "social networks" like "nextdoor.com", they are not in it for altruistic purposes.
I am only speculating here because "IANAL" and really don't "do" social networks. But my guess is that if asking nicely doesn't work, the only real alternative is having a lawyer "ask nicely" in a letter.
In the United States, there will *never* be legislation that gives "users" the kind of rights you are asking for. The only thing these people will understand is the threat of legal action. And even then, if it interferes with their business plan in a significant way, expect to have to go the "class action" route, which few of us can afford to pursue.
In short, "your fucked", have better sense next time to NOT sign up for such silliness.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
could be classified a delusional state.
Even if you "delete" it, they keep it on file and send you periodic e-mails asking you to reactivate it. If you do, all of your content is still there and any updates that happened via friends, etc. still were on your timeline. Basically, their "delete" just makes the profile partially invisible.
I expect Gmail/G+ is the same thing but never tested it. Maybe someone else can comment.
I'm often interested in deleting accounts I don't use to avoid handing over my data to attackers when their systems are breached. The more sites I've given my data to, the more likely some random attack that grabs a DB dump is to have a copy of my Name, Email, (hashed)? password, etc. Depending on the type of site it may even get some bonus data in the form of answers to security questions.
This sounds lame, but the amount of spam currently directed at the accounts I used on: the motley fool, eharmony, Adobe, is quite high. Just putting my name at the top makes it that much more likely I'll be scammed by some phishing email.
paul reinheimer
Change all your details in the account settings, name, address, email etc.
Then, deactivate the account like they tell you in their help on their site.
http://help.nextdoor.com/customer/portal/articles/805273-deactivating-your-account
That's about it. Not even Slashdot will erase your old posts when you decide to quit here, nobody does that, it would ruin all the past conversations.
This is not at all uncommon, unfortunately. Even sites that let you delete your account, complete with a warning about not being able to recover it later, rarely actually delete it (and often have no issue reactivating it later). The problem is that it's basically up to each site to determine how they store user data, through ToS and EULA's that haven't exactly been found to be legally binding or enforceable. There's also no basic expectation for consumers as a result of the lack of such regulations.
You're only real option is to try and contact whoever owns the site directly, possibly by having your lawyer send a formal request to delete your account (you could probably handle it yourself with some research) and go from there. Companies tend to take notice when lawyers get involved.
This is easy.
Start changing details of your identity on the site. Change your surname (the option should be there because of marriage) and as much other stuff as possible.
Soon, the profile will be a total lie and you can safely forget about it.
Why isn't it possible to delete a Slashdot account, and have all your old posts become Anonymous?
Did you really delete your Facebook account, or just deactivate it?
Well. As a last resort.
1) Change all of your user data that you can. Edit your profile so that all of the data is either blank, or not yours at all.
2) Edit your age down to below 13 years old. This may kick in automatic account privacy settings.
3) If none of this works, then look at the TOS and find things that they don't want you to do. (ie, Wikipedia freaks out if you mention suing them on any forum. A TOS might make it a violation to badmouth the parent company, or to solicit other users. You might think of creating a couple of throwaway accounts, and getting into a royal flamewar with your invisible clones. Call them really bad names. Threaten to sue them.)
4) Do not let number three go into the realm of anything illegal. Don't post porn in public fora. You simply want to make yourself unwelcome at this location.
If it's worth doing, it's worth doing for money.
In the UK, the Data Protection Act requires that they delete your data on request.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Protection_Directive
You can write a letter to any EU-based company requesting the deletion of your data and they are obliged to comply. Non-EU based companies are required to store person-related data in the EU, and thus are in the same situation. The data is not owned by the company.
But also see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23044809 (a court ruling) and http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/02/in-europe-a-right-to-be-forgotten-trumps-the-memory-of-the-internet/70643/ (comparison US/Europe)
NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
I've got an uncooperative website for you, Slashdot.org.
Slashdot keeps jamming this piece of shit Beta on me and I can't break free of it.
beta.shalsdot.org is an epic fail in the making. Slashdot is about to pull a Digg V4.
keep displaying the posts all you want, i just want my name off my slashdot account.
fuck slashdot.
God damn, some of you people exhibit such little
forethought in your behavior that it is amazing.
Of course, only a naive idiot even USES social
networking sites to begin with.
There are many comments about the ownership of the posts and how if the poster owned the posts he should be able to delete them. I have a different view.
From the Nextdoor Member Agreement:
Content. You retain all ownership rights to the text, photos, video and other content you submit to Nextdoor.com (collectively, your “Content”). We can publish your Content in your neighborhood website or to nearby neighborhoods as described in our privacy policy.
Notice they say rights. The poster owns the posts in that the poster is responsible for the content and the site can not sell or copy the posts to other sites. Those are the general copyright laws. The issue comes in that by posting on the site the owner has given a copy to someone else, much like giving someone a book. The poster still owns the right to the post but not ownership of that specific copy.
This is from the Privacy Policy:
Data Modification/Deletion. You can delete your account by contacting us. Alternatively, you can delete most types of individual Content items. Deleting your account will delete all Content you provided, except that we may choose to retain Content incorporated into the neighborhood's conversations (and, as applicable, nearby neighborhoods); and we may attribute that Content to your name even after you depart. If we allow you to change neighborhoods on our site, we may retain your conversation contributions in your old neighborhood and nearby neighborhoods (and keep the attribution to your name) but allow you to move your profile to your new neighborhood. If you are the subject of an unauthorized profile, please contact us.
It looks pretty explicit that they will retain conversations.
"their privacy policy makes it clear that the user owns all of their data. If this is true, I should have the right to destroy that data. "
What is the basis for such a logical leap?
If you're going to make an overreaching claim, you might as well ask for a pony too.
If you don't want your life on the net, stop registering with your real information.
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
They might remove it from the web, but how can you ever verify they physically deleted the records without selling them first? Even then it will still be in Google cache, etc. This idea of unwriting something you have written is just silly.
The only way to win this game is not to play.
Don't feel you have to participate in every social media site. You really won't miss anything if you don't. People will tell you, "You have to have a social media presence to get a job" but that's just BS.
In fact, a very good skill to develop is the ability to ignore cultural phenomenon occasionally. It's almost like a superpower and it can really impact your happiness quotient. For example, I've made it to the last act of a semi-celebrity drama without knowing what a "Duck Dynasty" is, and the feeling is awesome. It takes a bit of preparation and planning, but it is possible to filter out nonsense. And make no mistake, social media is nonsense, and it's dangerous. You think you're getting something when in fact you're having something taken from you.
You are welcome on my lawn.
How do I delete my Slashdot posts and my account again? Oh right, I can't.
Its called 'DeleteMe' and you can check with them to see if they can help you with particular sites.
This is the same group that makes the anti-tracking browser addon 'DoNotTrackMe'.
Cannot be any worse than Craigslist. Not only can you not delete your account, they save the record of every post you made and it too cannot be deleted.
I've never used nextdoor.com but if you can edit your data just make it meaningless gibberish.
i am sorry but he internet archive feels that it is best served by not honoring your takedown request
The contract probably grants the site a license to display the user's posts publicly in perpetuity. Ownership of copyright doesn't mean you have to be able to revoke licenses already granted. For example, once I click Submit, I grant a license to Rob^W Ando^W VA^W Sour^W Geekn^W Dice that I can't revoke.
"
Just always be ready with damage-control on the stuff you have sprinkled around online. Always be up front with yourself and your employers / whomever else whose opinion of your past internet activities could possibly ever matter enough to make you care that much about it / your employers.
They would mostly be concerned about the image that you reflect onto their company. I've thought of this some times. To me, the best idea is to form a website that is your "professional image" site, and do damage-control from there. Maybe package it very simply with a link off of the front page to "My Web Footprint, Q & A".
Start with a nice lead-in that captures the empathy of the audience.
Go into detail about things that you find cringe-worthy, and shrug them off as not being a very big deal and not being reflective of who you are, today. Explain the misconceptions in your mind that led to those past statements or behaviors, and let the audience know how glad you are that you aren't like that any more. If there's evidence of that, link to the evidence.
There, now you're not a potential liability, you're a success story that the corporation can be happy to link to and parade around as proof that they are in touch with real people, not just any people, upward-mobile people.
You have the opportunity to get out of it in ways that older folks who did things they're ashamed of in the 60's and 70's didn't have:
(1.) The opportunity to face it head-on by knowing fully well that it's easily discoverable information and by becoming your own blackmailer ahead of anyone else.
(2.) The opportunity to spin it however you want and make it into whatever sort of rags-to-riches, turned-over-a-leaf, now-I-know-what-the-salt-of-the-Earth-is-really-like sort of story you really think people want to see.
(3.) The opportunity to surround it with gay frog images and links to buy your published-on-demand memoirs of those weird times.
"Stratigraphically the origin of agriculture and thermonuclear destruction will appear essentially simultaneous" -- Lee
Slashdot won't delete your account either
The quote is "Nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure." A carefully placed iron rod, dropped from high Earth orbit, would be quite effective as well.
Funny you should say that now. I was just now reading a historically important post from 1991. Slashdot covered the 20th anniversary of this particular post.
http://classic.slashdot.org/story/11/08/25/1535255
I'm curious, should George Bush be able to delete all records of things he said publicly, to remove all mention of WMD from the archives? There is a strong argument that once you choose to publicly make assertions, to engage in open, written discussion, the comments you chose to publish remain. If I were to call someone a thief and a liar, I'd fully expect that the accusations I chose to make publicly would remain a part of the public record. If I don't want to look like an asshole, I shouldn't act like an asshole.
I had some asshole that I had emailed once dump their entire gmail contact list into nextdoor and now I get a twice weekly email update also asking me to join. I emailed the woman asking her to remove me, but she did not. So...
I filtered their email with the following rules:
1. forward email to originator
2. forward to person who did this to me
3. forward to the investment team who owns the site: shastaventures.com
4. mark as junk
5. delete
I figure if they won't remove me, they might as well get the email too. You may want to use their email addresses and change the one you have on file with them.
Timothy, Timothy, Timothy. When will you ever learn? "Ask Slashdot" posts belong in the "Ask Slashdot" section so that those of us who choose to filter out those stories can do so. It doesn't work though if you keep posting "Ask Slashdot" stories in other sections.
'The tyrant will always find pretext for his tyranny.' - Aesop's Fables
What I suggest is that the user create numerous social accounts and free websites with fictitious information using a throw away email address. In those accounts, and on those web pages, provide as much fictitious information as possible.
The principle is that you cannot beat the data warehouses, but with the use of misleading and false information, you can render that information near useless.
in a change of years' old policy, plentyoffish.com now requires users purchase a PAID ACCOUNT upgrade in order to delete their account. that's a really shitty way to do business, guys.
Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
How is it that people still assume they have any control on what they post online? Seriously, you deserve it when something embarrassing you post online leaks out more than you wanted. The only time I'd feel any sympathy is when a picture or video was created in what was supposed to be a personal environment that wasn't meant to be leaked out. Even then though, be wary.
Even on sites that "allow" deletion, you probably can't actually destroy your data, only impact its visibility. Sites that don't allow deletion LOVE updates. So here's the Universal Solution:
- Update your profile by removing (or changing to BS if necessary) as much information as possible. This includes "updating" your photo with something meaningless.
- If possible, change any username/nickname info.
This is approximately as close as you can get for any non-deletion site regardless of their other policies.
You suck -- I mean the advice you gave. Create a few alter-egos with the same name as you and register accounts.
Then --- presto! --- it wasn't you but those other guys.
No explanations required. Simple dismissal. Plausible deniability. Easy as 1-2-3.
Priest: "Universe from nothing, no laws of physics, sped up time"+ huge discrepancies. Creationism? No. Big Bang Theory
I solve this kind of things. Payment related to success only. And its good fun
This is easy to do. Simply erase all your information via available text fields and replace it with objectional material. For example:
Name: Peepee McGee
Age: 13
Sex: Yes please
Based on that, you can easily fill in other data fields. It is best to fill it out so that once some outcry starts then the operators will want to delete the data.
Yes, their user agreement might say you own your data, and it probably says a lot of other things. But honestly, what did you expect? Did you really think you could give them your data and expect them not to use it? Do you really trust social websites to look out for you? Such sites basically have two ways to make money, by showing you paid ads and selling/renting/"sharing" your data. Sorry, but if you're paying attention you must know that you can't trust any of them with anything you don't want to be public forever - and I mean all social sites. Even if they have a friendly EULA/TOS and actually abide by and don't change it, can you trust that your info is secure? Hackers and corporate buyouts are threats, as well.
This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
Easier to change your name in real life and move to another locality.
Perhaps change your nationality and sex as well...?
If a company's revenue from citizens of Vulgaria would be more than $1,000,000, then yes they would.
Europe is big, and has a lot of people in it.