Live data from Hacker News

Show HN: Tech Companies That Won't Delete Your Information

secured.fyi

71–80 of 130 posts

Re: Show HN: Tech Companies That Won't Delete Your Information

#72
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have problems with FF too (+uBlock Origin +DuckDuckGo Privacy). Loading the data from Google seems to fail: code 403 message Requests from referer https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/1A3xz8NFWjebuMbGWvy2yUBKcnAmuZSs5JmKq9-JDss8/values/Email?key=AIzaSyCxiboNdLE5nSch2pdwI3blsfvfyss3Y0M are blocked. status PERMISSION_DENIED

Read my previous reply.

As you can see from the code in my post, the script runs, but the server responds with a 403 error. That looks more like the JS is doing the wrong request in FF. The problem seems to be the referrer. For comparison:

Referrer in FF:

  https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/1A3xz8NFWjebuMbGWvy2yUBKcnAmuZSs5JmKq9-JDss8/values/Email?key=AIzaSyCxiboNdLE5nSch2pdwI3blsfvfyss3Y0M
Referrer in Chromium:

  https://secured.fyi/
Btw. I tried deactivating any Addons which might interfere with the requests but it didn't change anything. So probably all users with a modern Firefox will have an empty table.

Re: Show HN: Tech Companies That Won't Delete Your Information

#73

Uber needs to be on the list. They have had employees tracking their Ex's whereabouts. They have publicly boasted of being able to identify "rides of shame" after your One-night stand. They collected location information beyond what was necessary to pick you up. Plus, you know, being union-busting, misogynistic, democracy-undermining, corner-cutting and pedestrian-killing frat boys. But the reasons above seemed to be…

What ranking factors would you suggest I add to cover Uber?

Perhaps a ranking of subtle retention policies.

And though not directly related, data breaches do undermine a user’s ability to delete their data. So maybe some kind of formula to quantify data loss.

Just some ideas. Your work thus far is really eye opening and you have my thanks. I had no idea I was trapped in LinkedIn.

Re: Show HN: Tech Companies That Won't Delete Your Information

#74
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Read my previous reply.

As you can see from the code in my post, the script runs, but the server responds with a 403 error. That looks more like the JS is doing the wrong request in FF. The problem seems to be the referrer. For comparison: Referrer in FF: https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/1A3xz8NFWjebuMbGWvy2yUBKcnAmuZSs5JmKq9-JDss8/values/Email?key=AIzaSyCxiboNdLE5nSch2pdwI3blsfvfyss3Y0M Referrer in Chromium: https://secured.fy…

I had to disable the "Smart Referrer" Firefox Addon to get the table to load in Firefox :(

Re: Show HN: Tech Companies That Won't Delete Your Information

#75
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clean this up a bit and you can br troyhunt for gdpr and command corresponding consulting fees.

Clean this up in what way?

The navigation is a bit confusing. I didn't know the landing page was the "Naughty List". And I was expecting each "category" to filter the existing list, not show a new list of websites/companies.

Also, the ranking list isn't that helpful when 20-some companies are tied for 3rd.

Do you work with any UX designers? Get some feedback from them. It's not about making it pretty as much as it's about presenting the content in a clear way.

Re: Show HN: Tech Companies That Won't Delete Your Information

#76
post #62

Most companies will not "delete" your account. They will deactivate your account. It is hard to delete things in SQL databases that use FKs, and in many cases it is illegal or inadvisable to delete all customer data (e.g. if you need to keep invoices for accounting reasons, or if you are eligible for chargebacks). Small startups are often busy trying to keep everything working and go after their key metrics and don't…

Of course it is hard (or maybe not top priority for some) but that's no excuse in my book.

Besides, from a technical perspective archiving PDF invoices and using SQL cascade delete doesn't sound overwhelming in complexity.

Re: Show HN: Tech Companies That Won't Delete Your Information

#79
Elsevier (Mendeley)

TLDR: Claimed to have deleted everything on 2017-06-08, but they lied.

0. 2017-06-06: Mendeley email me "Paul, important changes to your Mendeley account ..." I log on and 'delete' my account.

1. 2017-06-07: Mendeley me "We have deleted your Mendeley profile and data, to delete your full Elsevier account, please email usinfo@elsevier.com"

2. 2017-06-07: I reply to Elsevier "Please do that for me now - if you've created one for me delete my full Elsevier account from all databases and backups that you have on me, including cold storage."

3. 2017-06-07: Elsevier email me a ticket number

4. 2017-06-08: ELS-Mendeley Support email me "This email is to acknowledge the request and to confirm that we have already removed your email address from our database. We have cleared out all data associated with your account across all Mendeley servers. You shouldn’t be receiving any more emails from Mendeley moving forward. Apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you."

5. 2017-06-11: Elsevier Customer Feedback "According to our records you recently contacted in Elsevier Customer Support. The ID of the support query was 170607-010708. We want to improve the service we provide you. In order to evaluate our current service, we are conducting a brief (3-4 minute) survey. This asks a few questions about your most recent experience of contacting us. Your feedback would be very valuable. ..." I don't click on the link

6. 2017-06-15: Mendeley email me "Paul, important changes to your Mendeley account" ...

7. 2017-11-11: Mendeley email me "Paul, identify relevant funding opportunities Hi Paul, Have you logged into Mendeley lately? ..."

Edit: correct dates

Re: Show HN: Tech Companies That Won't Delete Your Information

#80

Elsevier (Mendeley) TLDR: Claimed to have deleted everything on 2017-06-08, but they lied. 0. 2017-06-06: Mendeley email me "Paul, important changes to your Mendeley account ..." I log on and 'delete' my account. 1. 2017-06-07: Mendeley me "We have deleted your Mendeley profile and data, to delete your full Elsevier account, please email usinfo@elsevier.com" 2. 2017-06-07: I reply to Elsevier "Please do that for me n…

You're still on the email list - that doesn't mean your account data is still there, it means the marketing team is probably silo'd and doesn't clean their lists.
Post reply on HN