Enable easy deletion of the entire account by the user himself

I don’t know, but if there is an issue with that it’s much more likely to get actioned if you prove that there’s a problem (create new OSM account, test post to Discourse, delete new OSM account) than if no-one is sure whether there is a problem or not.

I just tried it with a new user. After deletion my Discourse account still exists, but it is temporarily on hold. That means I can’t post anything anymore, but my posts are still there.
2022-11-29 13_25_02-Window

Of course, the question is also why we do not distinguish between the forum and the map. Why do I always have to have my forum posts and my map posts deleted together? Why can’t this be done separately?

1 Like

I will use this as a post to check if it’s still there after I will delete my OSM account.

1 Like

This is a test.

I have already deleted my OSM account, but I can still post something here. This is funny.

1 Like

I have to correct myself. The first account was put “on hold” because I wrote something with “test”. The second account is not affected because I did not use a trigger word.

This account has just been deleted from openstreetmap.org. I made a change on the map, which also still exists. See Way: 1118057021 | OpenStreetMap

This post is also still here: Hello to all OSM contributors

I assume that deleting OSM account should delete also this part of OSM account.

As you can see here, I’m still able to answer you although I have deleted my OSM account.

that is normal

account is deleted, OSM edits are not deleted (and OSM can do this). In case of users breaking rules and adding GDPR-covered data to OSM database it can be hidden (DWG should be notified)

then either it is a bug or request made here should be fullfilled

Yes, it says so in the bullet points on the page where you delete the account. I had not taken this as unusual.

Once you log-off here you won’t be able to log-in again. AFAIK, there is no mechanism that informs the forum about deleted account, only the auth system that allows you to log-in or not.

/cc @TomH @Firefishy

2 Likes

keeping posts also can be fine (I am not a lawyer!)

So to sum up the whole issue:
It is not possible for a user to simply and immediately delete all their data here on the forum.

It is my right to have ALL my data deleted. This also includes my self-made postings here. To what extent this is a violation of the GDPR, I am not able to judge, since I am also not a lawyer, but my understanding tells me that this could already be one.

Yes, but if I never delete my cookies again, I can operate with a deleted account until forever.

that is untrue, for example there is no obligation to delete contributions to OSM or what is necessary to prevent abuse

And to be more forum-specific: GDPR covers only personal data, likely forum posting are not covered by it.

(also not a lawyer)

1 Like

But my username should be deleted / anonymized and all data attached to my account should be deleted. And someone should check all my forum postings if there is any personal information posted.

EDIT: Since none of us here is a data protection lawyer. Does the OSM(F) have a data protection officer who takes care of such things?

We’re also going in circles a bit here. Some people want to delete their account here, which only a handful of people can do here and for this reason there have already been “complaints”, at least in the German forum. Since the deactivation in this case took some time, this already passes " Without undue delay " from my point of view.

Here are the options I see at the moment:

  1. all moderators should be able to deactivate / delete users here in the forum to grant a faster response time.
  2. users should be able to delete / deactivate themselves.
  3. we should clarify at a higher instance, how exactly we are subject to the GDPR here. I think that would also be in the sense of OSMF, because in doubt threatens a lawsuit.

This is clearly an upstream issue with Discourse. I’d suggest commenting here: Add Account Deletion - feature - Discourse Meta

4 Likes

The way category moderators are set-up, is not intended to have global permissions to remove forums accounts (which will affect other categories), also it’s not technically possible without making people global moderators (and we have +120 category mods at the moment).

What’s the problem you are trying to solve here? Admins have already processed requests for forum account deletions and also performed deletions to spam accounts.

Complains coming from some users were around not deleting their account right away, and instead being deleted on Monday morning when an admin was online. @forums-governance is discussing how to be able to have better admin response to urgent issues (maybe more admins in different timezones), but in my opinion an account deletion request can perfectly wait until Monday morning if needed.

Cheers.

1 Like

I am pretty sure that it is quite extreme interpretation, account deletion happens here far faster than typical/average on other websites.

I agree and will comment there after some more research.

I just wanted to respond to the users and find a solution, which had complained about it here recently. Originally I didn’t want to make it as big as it is now, but I’m wondering myself that the software here is probably not able to delete the own account by means of a few clicks.
From a technical point of view, this shouldn’t be a problem, so I’m trying to figure out why this isn’t possible in Discourse. Maybe there are really good reasons for this, but I don’t see them yet.

To get the thread back here: yes I agree in principle. But to make the platform more user-friendly and to learn from what happened, the plugin linked at the very beginning could possibly help to clarify the process that runs in the background. If I as a user am informed in written form that the deletion of my account will take at least X days, then I can do more with it than if I get no feedback at all and after X hours the account is still there.

I agree with this as well. Nevertheless, I think it would help a lot if there was a short informative description about the timing and process.

Thanks for all the comments and thoughts. I appreciate it very much.

3 Likes