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I also always wondered why is there no option to delete submissions and comments? That is an awfully exposing experience IMO.
Being exposing is a bit of a benefit for HN, in that it's a very good way to serve as a snapshot of culture at any given time. People can't just whitewash their histories or wrong actions on HN.
There is an unofficial FAQ by Jacques Mattheij, with an answer to this very question: https://jacquesmattheij.com/the-unofficial-hn-faq#deleteacco... There is also indeed the official FAQ: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html
There's a certain level of hubris to an attitude in which a given site that feels it's needs are more important than users.
Saying you can't delete all your posts/account is the same as saying "you do not have the right to control your own posts here".
I think it should be OK on HN to delete all your comments on your account if you want. I appreciate that this would degrade the quality of impacted historical comment threads but hey that's the price for giving people back control over their digital lives.
It happens on Reddit and whilst every now and then I encounter a reddit thread with deleted items, in general it has not destroyed reddit, and I respect the right of those users to have deleted their digital comments.
I rate respect for user wishes over the importance of maintaining historical threads integrity on HN.
> I would like to continue using the service, but I have no interest in maintaining my account. Just do "logout" > Why is account deletion not an option? Because, each submission & comments posted by you should be stored for historic reason - somebody already bookmark or quote it. Think, HN has something like "Hemingway Mode"[0], there also related XKCD[1]. [0] https://blog.ghost.org/hemingway-mode/ [1] https://xkcd.…
Since the HN crowd seems to strongly support GDPR, how is this in line?
It's a public forum, and having a historical record publically available to all users is somewhat mandatory to serve as an effective one.
It prevents linkrot, which is something particularly severe everywhere else.
Above all of that, HN doesn't sell data or really keep anything beyond what you've said - they don't even sell ads. It's more an archive than real 'social media.'
I also always wondered why is there no option to delete submissions and comments? That is an awfully exposing experience IMO.
You have the opportunity during the first two hours of them being submitted, unless there's a response to them, if I remember correctly. Being exposing is a bit of a benefit for HN, in that it's a very good way to serve as a snapshot of culture at any given time. People can't just whitewash their histories or wrong actions on HN.
> I would like to continue using the service, but I have no interest in maintaining my account. Just do "logout" > Why is account deletion not an option? Because, each submission & comments posted by you should be stored for historic reason - somebody already bookmark or quote it. Think, HN has something like "Hemingway Mode"[0], there also related XKCD[1]. [0] https://blog.ghost.org/hemingway-mode/ [1] https://xkcd.…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
They're not strongly pro GDPR, just strongly anti FB.
I'm basing my anecdote mainly on discussions that happened before Cambridge Analytica - and were purely about GDPR and its impacts.
> I would like to continue using the service, but I have no interest in maintaining my account. Just do "logout" > Why is account deletion not an option? Because, each submission & comments posted by you should be stored for historic reason - somebody already bookmark or quote it. Think, HN has something like "Hemingway Mode"[0], there also related XKCD[1]. [0] https://blog.ghost.org/hemingway-mode/ [1] https://xkcd.…
The can have all my posts they like - but that's no reason to also store my email address and force me to secure/manage the password of an account that I never intend to use again.
1. Change the email address to a disposable one. There's so many services, no way HN can prevent you doing this.
2. Update the password to a unique, complex password. Store it or don't, your choice.
3. Walk away from the account.
There is an unofficial FAQ by Jacques Mattheij, with an answer to this very question: https://jacquesmattheij.com/the-unofficial-hn-faq#deleteacco... There is also indeed the official FAQ: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html
Yes but times have changed and I think, depending on where you live in the world perhaps, that there is a growing expectation that you should be allowed to delete your digital tracks. There's a certain level of hubris to an attitude in which a given site that feels it's needs are more important than users. Saying you can't delete all your posts/account is the same as saying "you do not have the right to control your…
Who signed up for the account, typed out the post, and clicked Publish?
What do you think about people in real life who will never forget something that you said or did, even after you no longer like it.
I think it's just being an adult.