Remove my account

[Artha]

Please remove my data from your site. Sorry. I can't find the option so I assume that is something reserved for the site admins.

[HarryT]

Moderator Notice
Hi Artha,

We don't delete accounts. If you no longer wish to use the site, then simply stop posting.

[derangedhermit]

Originally Posted by HarryT

We don't delete accounts.

Most fora seem to have no way for a user to delete an account.

Clearly, there has been no strong reason to provide the function (for most sites).

It matters little. Even slow learners like me have begun to understand that the user error is not that we need to delete an account to remove any non-ficticious personal information.

It is that we ever provided any in the first place.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by derangedhermit

Most fora seem to have no way for a user to delete an account.

Clearly, there has been no strong reason to provide the function (for most sites).

There's the problem of what to do with the posts made by a user if the account is deleted. A user can always change any information in their profile that they wish removed.

Graham

[derangedhermit]

Originally Posted by Graham

There's the problem of what to do with the posts made by a user if the account is deleted. A user can always change any information in their profile that they wish removed.

Graham

Managing the posts has to be left to the user. That means two things to the site admin: nothing need be done with the posts, and posts must remain editable by the user indefinitely. Some sites leave posts editable; some sites remove the ability to delete posts or edit posts after some time period.

Sites vary in what info is always required and to what level of verification. Bare minimum seems to be an e-mail address that the user can access at least at the time of the requested change. Users need throwdown e-mail addresses for use with forum user ID registration.

[Mike L]

Originally Posted by derangedhermit

Managing the posts has to be left to the user.

The problem is that, if a user deletes a post, then subsequent posts in the same thread will be adversely affected - as will other threads that might quote or link to the deleted post.

The point is that, once a user submits a post, the post "belongs" to the forum as a whole. I don't necessarily mean that in the legal sense. Rather, that the post is part of a larger whole; it doesn't stand on its own.

I am aware of this issue because the owners of another forum I visit recently sold it to another company. Some of the members didn't like the new owners, and requested that their accounts were closed and their posts deleted. But both the old and new owners decided they couldn't do that - for much the same reasons as I mentioned above.

Mike

[HarryT]

Yes, that's exactly the reason why we don't remove accounts, Mike - it destroys thread continuity.

[derangedhermit]

It's all good, since MR currently leaves individual posts editable (at least I just changed one from Feb 2011), so a user can remove or change any specific information from individual posts if they need to. I guess people ask for bulk deletion, but I think there's normally no need for that due to security or privacy reasons, other than "convenience". If it means that much to someone, they can go through their posts one by one, if they need to. The only sticking point is if they get quoted on the now-sensitive material.

That seems a reasonable compromise to me, on the posts. It would be courteous to support deleting an account (with the requisite e-mail addy) without affecting the posts, but users can work around that as stated above.

[JSWolf]

I've seen other forums that allow messages to be deleted by the poster as long as it's the last message in a thread. If it's the only message in the thread, the thread gets deleted.

I think that works very well and if we could do that, that would be good.

[derangedhermit]

Originally Posted by Mike L

The point is that, once a user submits a post, the post "belongs" to the forum as a whole. I don't necessarily mean that in the legal sense. Rather, that the post is part of a larger whole; it doesn't stand on its own.

What about in the legal sense? I can't find the MR TOS looking around blindly or using the built-in Google search. Would someone please provide a link or directions?

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by derangedhermit

What about in the legal sense? I can't find the MR TOS looking around blindly or using the built-in Google search. Would someone please provide a link or directions?

Scroll to the bottom, in the right half of the blue bar you'll see FAQ - Guidelines - Privacy. I believe these sections are the closest you'll come to a TOS on Mobileread.

[Mike L]

Originally Posted by derangedhermit

What about in the legal sense?

I can only assume that the normal laws of copyright apply. In particular, the person who writes the post owns the copyright to that post. I don't think there can be any doubt about that. But, arguably, the forum owns the physical manifestation of the post.

This is no different than if you send someone a letter. You (the person who writes the letter) own the copyright - the intellectual property, if you will. But the recipient owns the actual letter itself - the physical ink and paper on which it's written. That person is free to do anything they like with the physical letter, including selling it and keeping the proceeds.

If that's right, that suggests that the forum is free to continue to display the post for as long as it wishes. It is under no obligation to delete a post just because the poster asks them to do so (unless agreed otherwise in their terms & conditions).

It's not so very different from sending a letter for publication in a newspaper. If the sender changes his mind and decides he doesn't want the letter published after all, the newspaper is under no obligation to respect that wish.

At least, that is my (non-expert) opinion. I doubt if it has ever been tested in the courts, but it would be interesting to know if it has.

Mike

[theducks]

One can assume that posting those words on the forum automatically grants permission to display them.
Since the forum is interactive, removing the permission (thus the words) would also destroy derivative (quoted) content, which the originator does NOT have the right to do.