Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts?

Re:Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts? by amelius on Sunday November 27, 2022 @02:12PM (#33765677)

Do other commenting websites (like Reddit, Disqus, ...) allow the user to delete an account and all the associated comments? I think Reddit only shows [deleted] next to a comment, with the comment still there.

Are they obliged to delete the comments according to laws like GDPR?

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Re:Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts? by 13of40 on Sunday November 27, 2022 @02:20PM (#33765768)

One thing to be aware of for Reddit (and perhaps HN) is there are multiple scrapers archiving it in real time, so even if you delete a post from the main site it's still going to be available to anyone who takes the time to look. I would assume that government agencies archive and index all of that low hanging fruit as well.

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Re:Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts? by fasthands9 on Sunday November 27, 2022 @02:28PM (#33765851)

I would think this is true though admittedly I think 95% of people just want their comments deleted so co-workers/friends can't stumble upon a semi-political hot take from a few years ago. Not because there is anything illegal or even career ruining.

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Re:Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts? by ForTheWin98 on Sunday November 27, 2022 @02:24PM (#33765809)

Even if GDPR does not apply, California's CCPA mandates a right to delete. I don't see any way around that.

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Re:Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts? by lelandfe on Sunday November 27, 2022 @03:46PM (#33766750)

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySectio...

> A business that receives a verifiable consumer request from a consumer to delete the consumer’s personal information pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section shall delete the consumer’s personal information from its records

Is a comment personal information?

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Re:Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts? by shagie on Sunday November 27, 2022 @04:28PM (#33767184)

https://calawyers.org/antitrust-unfair-competition-law/what-...

> The CCPA definition of personal information can be best understood by analyzing separately each of the four closely intertwined building blocks embedded in it: (i) “information”; (ii) “that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked”; (iii) “directly or indirectly”; (iv) “with a particular consumer or household”.

A comment would likely not meet those tests.

A user login maybe - though that is already covered in the faqs - https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html

> Can I change my username?

> Yes. Email [email protected] and we'll help.

Which could then dissociate you sufficiently to pass the tests ii through iv.

That might work for me (my user name is relatively unique and consistent) while throwaway123456 may have difficulty passing any of those tests.

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Re:Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts? by 9wzYQbTYsAIc on Sunday November 27, 2022 @08:59PM (#33769033)

> A comment would likely not meet those tests.

The HN legal page ( linked at the footer of the site ) indicates that Y Combinator considers public submissions to HN (stories and comments) as a category of Personal Information.

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Re:Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts? by ForTheWin98 on Sunday November 27, 2022 @04:14PM (#33767045)

Arguably, and in my own view, yes! The stylometry website linked comment texts to persons.

The courts or legislature are the ones to decide this. I believe they could side with my view.

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Re:Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts? by joshuamorton on Sunday November 27, 2022 @02:14PM (#33765696)

It's possible to go back and delete individual posts, which hn doesn't allow.

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Re:Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts? by generalizations on Sunday November 27, 2022 @02:21PM (#33765771)

I don’t think hn is subject to GDPR, since hn is based in the us, and GDPR doesn’t have jurisdiction.

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Re:Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts? by frereubu on Sunday November 27, 2022 @02:26PM (#33765821)

My understanding of GDPR is that, theoretically, any service which is used by European citizens is subject to GDPR. It's the citizenship of the user, not the location of the hosting or service.

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Re:Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts? by kube-system on Sunday November 27, 2022 @02:33PM (#33765905)

Technically true, but in practice, jurisdictional limitations mean that this is often ignored without consequence by those who do not have a financial presence in the EU.

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Re:Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts? by VanTheBrand on Sunday November 27, 2022 @02:40PM (#33765987)

Y combinator is invested in quite a few EU companies fwiw

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Re:Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts? by counttheforks on Sunday November 27, 2022 @03:04PM (#33766236)

Dang has confirmed via email he doesn't care about GDPR and has no intention to conform to it.

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Re:Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts? by AlchemistCamp on Sunday November 27, 2022 @03:13PM (#33766350)

Under the same kind of reasoning, Hong Kong’s security law of a couple of years ago has global reach and European citizens in Europe can be held responsible for violating it if they say the wrong things.

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Re:Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts? by generalizations on Monday November 28, 2022 @12:21PM (#33776391)

The EU can claim whatever they want - ownership of the moon, taxes from Chinese villagers, or that US companies in the US have to follow their little rules. Doesn't mean they have the right, jurisdiction, or authority.

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Re:Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts? by samus on Sunday November 27, 2022 @04:05PM (#33766941)

At least one US state has a data protection law that gives a similar basis for deletion requests. HN already has to honor these, even though they might or might not be useless for EU citizens.

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Re:Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts? by zinekeller on Sunday November 27, 2022 @02:14PM (#33765698)

> I think Reddit only shows [deleted] next to a comment, with the comment still there.

If you're naive. You could manually (or with a script) delete everything you've posted before saying bye-bye.

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Re:Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts? by aliqot on Sunday November 27, 2022 @02:29PM (#33765868)

The accepted means to do this is a greasemonkey script or plugin, that's why you commonly see stuff like this in divisive threads days after:

  [deleted] 2 days ago

  ou3208hh29ntg

  [what is this?]

  -link-

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Re:Ask HN: Can we delete our accounts? by 8organicbits on Sunday November 27, 2022 @02:56PM (#33766141)

Tools exist to delete comments as well, although I'd prefer if reddit supported it with the deletion request.

https://old.reddit.com/r/Python/comments/6wfqsv/quick_script...

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