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Can user delete his account on OF?

vitriol
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This is an open "what if?" question, I am not willing to delete but wondering how does it work in practice here...😒

Recently I decided to stop using another board, couldn't find the button to delete my user so I asked admin how to?
He replied that in general users cannot be deleted because the board will still archive their content.
I am happy if my content stays in, so that was not a problem.
Admin also gave a quote from T&C, which mentioned that the board may but not must to comply with user's request for a termination of the account.
I thought this is a way to go and requested for the "termination".

Next what I saw when tried to login was: "You have been banned for the following reason: Wished to leave. Date the ban will be lifted: Never"

Well, technically my goal has been achieved, but being banned was not necessary my point. 😵‍💫
Hence this thread, how does it work on OF? If one decides to leave - can his account be deleted in some civilized way, or ban is the only way?
 
KeithS
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Why not simply stop logging in? I don't see any benefit in formally ending your participation in an online message board––especially if your contributions remain available for others to see.
 
03Hemi
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If your intentions are to leave, why care if you’re banned. I mean, how would you know unless you wanted to log into a forum you chose to leave anyway? Kinda pointless, huh?
 
vitriol
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Yes and No.
Yes - I agree that logging back is pointless, do not need to login there anymore.
No - I care because it was a watch forum. Each time when I see a banned member I assume he was a bad guy, probably a scammer, this is why I do not like how "termination" has turned out.
 
jaspers
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For me as a lawyer this is a very interesting question 📖

Are you based in the EU, @vitriol? If so, you may claim your "right to be forgotten" according to the General Data Protection Regulation—even though it may be unclear whether that also applies to third countries like Australia, where OF is based. The case law on this is very nascent still, so no way to tell. Were OF based in the EU, though, it would be well within your rights to request complete removal of your profile and everything you ever produced on the forum.
 
vitriol
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Thanks @jaspers , I am EU citizen, board is registered in Canada, so not sure will it blend.
In fact, do you think that mine forum name qualifies as mine personal data?
 
Archer
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vitriol vitriol
Thanks @jaspers , I am EU citizen, board is registered in Canada, so not sure will it blend.
In fact, do you think that mine forum name qualifies as mine personal data?

Tried to find you on there, but the search function sucks. Have you confirmed that you are shown as "banned"?
 
jaspers
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vitriol vitriol
Thanks @jaspers , I am EU citizen, board is registered in Canada, so not sure will it blend.
In fact, do you think that mine forum name qualifies as mine personal data?
It does qualify when your forum name can directly or indirectly lead to you as a natural person. So if anywhere online it can be inferred that "V1triol" is you (by your name, "location data, [...] or to one or more factors specific to [your] physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity"), your online handle would be personal data.
 
SpikiSpikester
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vitriol vitriol
Thanks @jaspers , I am EU citizen, board is registered in Canada, so not sure will it blend.
In fact, do you think that mine forum name qualifies as mine personal data?

No, just a forum name would not ordinarily be personal data in the EU. The data the forum holds on you would be more extensive and could be personal data - but you will probably also have given all sorts of consents under the website terms of use, so it's not exactly simple.
 
timecube
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What I have done in similar circumstances (and I am hoping it never should come to pass here) is a form of self-ban, wherein I generate a random unmemorable password, and reset my forum password to it. Sometimes augmented with an email change to an invalid or temporary email account (if applicable).

It's not really "account deletion" but it's not an actual mod-enforced ban either. After I forget the "new" password it's unrecoverable.

There are good administrative and technical reasons why actual account deletion isn't favored on many sites; though GDPR makes many of those reasons moot.
 
vitriol
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SpikiSpikester SpikiSpikester
No, just a forum name would not ordinarily be personal data in the EU. The data the forum holds on you would be more extensive and could be personal data - but you will probably also have given all sorts of consents under the website terms of use, so it's not exactly simple.
Yeah, I can imagine this is not black or white situation from a legal point of view.
Let's leave legal aside. How technically would such request be handled on OF? "Banned" status is the only option?
 
SpikiSpikester
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I haven't been around for a while & can't clearly remember how deactivation requests have been handled in the past.

There are good reasons for a forum keeping records of member posts, including disputes over provocative comments (you might be surprised how often people like to claim remarks were "libel" or "defamation" and threaten all sorts of actions against forums) and disputes over sales. Whether that content can be saved when an account is "deleted" often has a lot to do with how the underlying technology works, rather than pure policy decisions.
 
BlackTalon
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My guess is the only one to 'stop' your account was to ban it, that way the content does not go away. The normal way is to just stop visiting/ posting.
 
Dan S
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vitriol vitriol
Yes and No.
Yes - I agree that logging back is pointless, do not need to login there anymore.
No - I care because it was a watch forum. Each time when I see a banned member I assume he was a bad guy, probably a scammer, this is why I do not like how "termination" has turned out.

I wouldn't want my profile to show up as "banned" either, and I suspect that if you had know that would be the outcome, you would have just lived with the status quo. After all, there's really not a major benefit to have the account deactivated.

Maybe you were unhappy with something that happened on the forum and were trying to make a point, i.e. "cancel my subscription", and they decided to have the last word?
 
noelekal
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I'm a moderator for a forum in the vBulletin community of forums and we can close a membership and simply show the member as an "ex-member." I expect that a moderator deliberately chose to use the forum ban feature or else was a nitwit who didn't know how to properly close a membership.

Chances of inducing the watch forum to reverse the more offensive "banned" are low. You might attempt to contact a vBulletin administrator by email: [email protected]

Explain your concerns and perhaps they would assist you.
 
dsio
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vitriol vitriol
Yeah, I can imagine this is not black or white situation from a legal point of view.
Let's leave legal aside. How technically would such request be handled on OF? "Banned" status is the only option?
With our software the most simple is to ban, and the last person to request his account be deleted got that as he messaged the request to me at 3AM Brisbane time while I was asleep, sent a few more spaced 30 minutes apart and them spammed pornography in a temper tantrum since I hadn't responded and by the time I woke up at 8AM it had been handled by Steve or someone.

Personally and this is the practicality side, it isn't easy for us to do and while we can do what Noelekal suggested above and do the ex-member thing if needed, it doesn't change the fact that our DB will still contain old PMs from you to people and old information so it isn't really doing anything that you just not logging in wouldn't do.

We occasionally have people deleting FS listings too after the fact or editing out prices which we revert and sanction if needed and there are some people that throw absolute tantrums over that and have made threats or claimed their pricing on previous watches or photos that they themselves posted is their intellectual property and therefore DMCA takedown grounds which is downright scummy. We keep that content at great expense storage wise because it is valuable as a historical record and a source of information for future collectors and I see the preservation of knowledge and watch photos as one of our primary goals. So on that front I say to people if you post on our free marketplace you are required to leave that content, images and pricing up as your contribution to the wealth of knowledge here, anyone who doesn't want to do that is welcome to use ebay and pay their fees.

But yea specifically what you're asking is not the easiest thing in the world for us to do.
 
UncleBuck
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dsio dsio
We keep that content at great expense storage wise because it is valuable as a historical record and a source of information for future collectors and I see the preservation of knowledge and watch photos as one of our primary goals.
👍, Thank you, Ash!
 
A
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vitriol vitriol
This is an open "what if?" question, I am not willing to delete but wondering how does it work in practice here...😒

Recently I decided to stop using another board, couldn't find the button to delete my user so I asked admin how to?
He replied that in general users cannot be deleted because the board will still archive their content.
I am happy if my content stays in, so that was not a problem.
Admin also gave a quote from T&C, which mentioned that the board may but not must to comply with user's request for a termination of the account.
I thought this is a way to go and requested for the "termination".

Next what I saw when tried to login was: "You have been banned for the following reason: Wished to leave. Date the ban will be lifted: Never"

Well, technically my goal has been achieved, but being banned was not necessary my point. 😵‍💫
Hence this thread, how does it work on OF? If one decides to leave - can his account be deleted in some civilized way, or ban is the only way?

How amazing is this. The first two answers where : why don't just stop logging? And, why do you care about beeing baned if you are not going to use the forum any more? And I wonder, seriously? that is an answer?

What I realy like to know is the reason why you decide to leave the forum. Personally I can say that 8 out of 10 times I receive unpleasant or snob comments (although I must say too that the other two are usually very useful and appreciated answers, from people who really enjoy help) and therefore I also request, once, delete my account, only that I did not receive any answer and I prefer that to a simple ban.
Hence my curiosity of why leave the forum, in your case?
 
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