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Ask HN: Will HN allow account and comment deletions?

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Ask HN: Will HN allow account and comment deletions?

#11

Post by x0x0 »

zaroth wrote: post #7
agotterer wrote: post #5

Previous HN thread - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16661323

I read the whole thing and all I came away with is that basically no one has a fucking clue if it applies, if it does apply technically does it even matter, and if it does matter how it’s supposed to work without fucking up the site. Yay GDPR!

Most of the deletion requirement for a user could probably be satisfied by removing the username from the posts. And not just for display, but in the db. If the data can't be recalled for a user, then (by my reading) that clears the GDPR requirement.

Re: Ask HN: Will HN allow account and comment deletions?

#14

Post by Sharparam »

legohead wrote: post #10
FrankBooth wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a nice summary of how to do this available? Or, if not, would you mind posting a few pointers?

It's nothing fancy. I'm simply deleting all my comments/posts on reddit and other forums I've participated in, manually. Of course, you can reach out to the admins and ask them to delete your data, but they may not be responsive... One thing I haven't got to yet, and am not sure how to even approach, is removing my old Usenet posts, which you can find on Google Groups (from 1995!). I still comment on reddit and such,…

> I still comment on reddit and such, as I like to help people. I just come back later and remove the comments.

May I ask why? There are few things more frustrating than arriving in a help thread from search results and finding that the answer has been deleted.

Re: Ask HN: Will HN allow account and comment deletions?

#15

Post by legohead »

Sharparam wrote: post #14
legohead wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's nothing fancy. I'm simply deleting all my comments/posts on reddit and other forums I've participated in, manually. Of course, you can reach out to the admins and ask them to delete your data, but they may not be responsive... One thing I haven't got to yet, and am not sure how to even approach, is removing my old Usenet posts, which you can find on Google Groups (from 1995!). I still comment on reddit and such,…

> I still comment on reddit and such, as I like to help people. I just come back later and remove the comments. May I ask why? There are few things more frustrating than arriving in a help thread from search results and finding that the answer has been deleted.

That's fair, and I understand that pain.

It's a couple things. I may actually be wrong, and don't want to leave my stupidity open on the internet for all to see. And secondly, for those who figure out my alias in real life and snoop me up on the internet and find things out about me that I'd prefer to keep private (things I am interested in, activities I partake in, etc).

Re: Ask HN: Will HN allow account and comment deletions?

#18

Post by mancerayder »

You can get individual comments deleted if you ask the moderator nicely.

I think at the very least a 'hide' feature for a comment would be useful. Presumably you don't want 'anonymous' comments created either so you'd need to hide the entire comment from the public and not just the username.

Sometimes one accidentally leaks personal information, and in this day and age privacy matters (or should).

Re: Ask HN: Will HN allow account and comment deletions?

#19

Post by jacquesm »

the-dude wrote: post #12

I have been partially doxed here and HN refuses to remove the comment.

If you are trying to be anonymous you really should try harder, it took me less than a minute to get your home address. For starters you should probably remove any identifying information from your profile.

Re: Ask HN: Will HN allow account and comment deletions?

#20

Post by et-al »

legohead wrote: post #15
Sharparam wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I still comment on reddit and such, as I like to help people. I just come back later and remove the comments. May I ask why? There are few things more frustrating than arriving in a help thread from search results and finding that the answer has been deleted.

That's fair, and I understand that pain. It's a couple things. I may actually be wrong, and don't want to leave my stupidity open on the internet for all to see. And secondly, for those who figure out my alias in real life and snoop me up on the internet and find things out about me that I'd prefer to keep private (things I am interested in, activities I partake in, etc).

Why not just create a new account every few weeks? It's trivially simple on reddit and HN, and they offer you some degree of anonymity unlike Facebook.

Like Sharparam, reddit search results can be fruitless because of all the deleted answers. Imagine if StackOverflow was like that.

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