Chris 👾 (@chris@mstdn.games)
mstdn.games
Attached: 2 images 👿 PSA: #Reddit is restoring deleted and overwritten posts to save what they consider "their data". This is a new low and probably illegal at least in Europe. You can send a GDPR or CPRA request here: https://www.reddit.com/settings/data-request These are screenshots of my profile on June 14th before and after overwriting and then deleting all my posts with Powerdelete. Today, June 16th all my posts have been restored by Reddit without my knowledge or consent. #redditblackout #redditmigration #kbin #lemmy

Another update and possibly a solution for some case where posts were not properly deleted. Seems I jumped the gun on this and the restores haven’t been intentional - at least not in this particular case.

There is a limitation in the popular Powerdelete that apparently prevents mass editing. Here is a link to a new version with a build-in delay and some other alternatives:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/145fico/comment/jnl4xmr/

There are other reported cases where manually deleted post reappeared or other scripts have been used, so this doesn’t solve all issues but explains how posts that were both edited and deleted withPowerdelete weren’t properly deleted and reappeared after subs went back live.

Update: As some have pointed out: the restores can be rollbacks from the server issues or post haven’t been properly deleted due to subs being private during blackouts. Many have experienced the same issue, I can’t explain how this happens. I’ll just run the script again, try the GDPR request and delete my account.

Also worth noting: according to the ToS Reddit can actually do whatever they want with existing content, apparently we agreed to this when signing up.

#redditblackout #redditmigration #kbin #lemmy

  • albatros@kbin.social
    3·
    2 years ago

    I’m not sure it’s ok in the GDPR rules?

    That would probably be related to “right to erasure”.

    But even this has limits, since sometimes the data can be necessary for a service (for example, you might be unable to get invoice data erased before X years, as a legal requirement)

    Since messages on forums can be considered “needed” to understand a thread, it’s usually advised to make all messages anonymous if a user requests complete deletion.

    I guess here it’s a little different, since the messages were removed by users, so it’s not a gdpr request. Not sure how it works in that case.

    Other issue is if the messages themselves contain personal information… Someone going through my old reddit profile could probably figure out my identity since I mentioned one of my (very uncommon) previous job a few times.

    Best way to figure out how it works here would probably be to contact the gdpr authority for your country… And they might have trouble with it too.

    • masterX244@kbin.social
      1·
      2 years ago

      But even this has limits, since sometimes the data can be necessary for a service (for example, you might be unable to get invoice data erased before X years, as a legal requirement)

      But then it still needs to be marked as a “DO NOT TOUCH”. you aren’t allowed to use it then for any other purpose.