Ability for user to delete him self.

SuperMAG · 2008-09-14 22:44:56

the title says it, i mean i get 5 emails per day from users telling me to delete their account. and i think if u want a free forum then u should let ur users to decide whether they want an account or not, and it will also decrease your db size. the button should be placed in the profile. and if it is possible for this to be an option for admins, whether they want to use this feature so it can be selected in admin area.

if you think this is unnecessary feature and dosent belong to core then its no problem since it can be done with extension. and it can also be logged with some extension if people are playing with ur forum.

Strofanto · 2008-09-14 22:50:34

If anyone is going to make this extension I'd suggest to freeze the user account rather than deleting it altogether. I think it's always better to keep details like IP, emails and so on.

Reines · 2008-09-14 23:15:36

SuperMAG wrote:

if you think this is unnecessary feature and dosent belong to core then its no problem

You guessed it I agree now and again on certain types of forums it would be useful, but on the majority it would be nothing but a problem.

Strofanto wrote:

If anyone is going to make this extension I'd suggest to freeze the user account rather than deleting it altogether. I think it's always better to keep details like IP, emails and so on.

The only good reason I can think of to want your account deleted is if you don't want your details on the site any more, so keeping them would kind of defeat the purpose of it.

Strofanto · 2008-09-14 23:40:43

Reines wrote:

Strofanto wrote:
If anyone is going to make this extension I'd suggest to freeze the user account rather than deleting it altogether. I think it's always better to keep details like IP, emails and so on.
The only good reason I can think of to want your account deleted is if you don't want your details on the site any more, so keeping them would kind of defeat the purpose of it.

True, but otherwise a bot could register, spam, delete the account and leave no trace.

Reines · 2008-09-14 23:56:59

Well I would (maybe wrongly?) assume deleting your account would remove all your posts as well so they'd have to be a pretty bad spammer to do that.

Smartys · 2008-09-15 00:00:38

Reines wrote:

Well I would (maybe wrongly?) assume deleting your account would remove all your posts as well so they'd have to be a pretty bad spammer to do that.

I wouldn't. Preserving the content is usually important.

And this is why deletion should be an administrative function, at least in the core. You can have users with lots of posts deleting, which removes their content and screws up the forum, or you might have spammers registering and then deleting, frustrating your efforts to handle their posts. In some forums the admin may want to provide the option for users to remove themselves. However, in most cases, it's easier to let the admin handle the requests.

Paul · 2008-09-15 00:59:09

I would have thought a more useful implementation would be delete request facility rather than delete. The admin could then do a search for all users with the delete request flagged. Though of course it would only really be useful on a busy forum with enough requests to make it a nuisance to deal with them individually.

SuperMAG · 2008-09-15 11:08:28

Strofanto wrote:

If anyone is going to make this extension I'd suggest to freeze the user account rather than deleting it altogether. I think it's always better to keep details like IP, emails and so on.

Strofanto wrote:

True, but otherwise a bot could register, spam, delete the account and leave no trace.

thats why i suggest a log with the extension. i already thought the spam would be problem, but was not sure how.

Paul wrote:

I would have thought a more useful implementation would be delete request facility rather than delete. The admin could then do a search for all users with the delete request flagged. Though of course it would only really be useful on a busy forum with enough requests to make it a nuisance to deal with them individually.

now thats a very good suggestion.

Last edited by SuperMAG (2008-09-15 11:12:27)

FSX · 2008-09-15 11:49:18

Maybe a "delete request" button could be added. The admin simply clicks 'accept' or 'deny' and maybe a checkbox with 'delete user posts' would be useful.

Reines · 2008-09-15 12:12:46

Maybe, though as everyone seems to agree it isn't something the majority of boards would want, I'd say extension.

Jérémie · 2008-09-15 12:44:04

Smartys wrote:

I wouldn't. Preserving the content is usually important.

Indeed. Each time I set up a board, I include in the rules some kind of “unlimited content usage license” for me to avoid people trying to remove all their content from the board.

IMO, the best way to handle this would be through an extension: each user can delete itself (with email verification), with or without his content (subject to admin global flag). But it's only a soft delete, the data is still here. That last part to avoid issues with identity theft, security breaches, etc.

patheticcockroach · 2008-09-15 13:24:18

Strofanto wrote:

If anyone is going to make this extension I'd suggest to freeze the user account rather than deleting it altogether. I think it's always better to keep details like IP, emails and so on.

You are forgetting that some countries (eg France) make it illegal to hold personal data against the user's consent. I don't know the law very well, but I think data like IPs can be kept, but data like e-mails (not 100% sure about this one) or names (I'm sure about this one ) must be deleted if the user requests it.

Reines wrote:

everyone seems to agree it isn't something the majority of boards would want

At least french admins who don't want to get sued would love to have a function to delete a user upon request...

Last edited by patheticcockroach (2008-09-15 13:32:22)

Jérémie · 2008-09-15 13:43:24

patheticcockroach wrote:

You are forgetting that some countries (eg France) make it illegal to hold personal data against the user's consent. I don't know the law very well, but I think data like IPs can be kept, but data like e-mails (not 100% sure about this one) or names (I'm sure about this one ) must be deleted if the user requests it.

That's not what the French law says, and certainly not the last part.

It's a complex matter, and only a professional could get you an educated answer (and only a last instance judge a definitive one), but to make it short: that's urban legend if the admin was well prepared.

Unless it's for a good reason (and judges tend to be severe on that, unless you are producing music and buying politicians of course) you can't keep personal data. The IP, same as the email address (even more), is a personal data (definition: it can identify someone).

So, a real French law extension would be the ability to delete personal data yes, but it's not mandatory to do it when the user request it. Because this could help a spammer, pirate, just plain moron, whatever. Something like: delete (for example when an account is deleted, but not only) personal data when it has been unused for 3 or 6 months would be much more appropriate.

Oh, and do remember that another laws are here or are coming in soon. It will now be mandatory to keep extensive records on people, for at least a year (iirc, could be more). Yup, new era, less freedom and less citizen protection, and more conflicting laws.

At least french admins who don't want to get sued would love to have a function to delete a user upon request...

They need to put up a licensing usage in the board rules before someone joins, just like I do. It will take care of what matter, the public face of the board (i.e. the content, the posts).

eternal243 · 2008-09-15 13:54:22

so what if a french admin got his server in south africa?

at least in sweden the law can only be applied if the server is located in sweden, so if i had my server anywhere else i could upload almost anything i would like.

back on topic, i think a delete request extension as paul suggested would be very useful sometimes. specialy if there is an alert message for admins saying "you have (insert number here) new account removal requests". and a panel where the admin only need to accept or deny the request along with a checkbox where he can choose to delete all posts along with the user.

patheticcockroach · 2008-09-15 14:00:49

Jérémie wrote:

patheticcockroach wrote:
must be deleted if the user requests it.
That's not what the French law says, and certainly not the last part.

As I said, I don't know the law very well... but still, a feature to delete the user's data, or to place them pending for deletion within [insert time here] sounds helpful (although not at all legally required since you can still remove the data manually).
PS: a page about this (in french) on the CNIL's website: http://www.cnil.fr/index.php?id=1680 (or in English with fewer details: http://www.cnil.fr/index.php?id=41 )

eternal243 wrote:

so what if a french admin got his server in south africa?

I think this law applies to servers hosted in France (the server's localization matters, not the admin's).

Last edited by patheticcockroach (2008-09-15 14:03:18)

Jérémie · 2008-09-15 14:32:15

eternal243 wrote:

so what if a french admin got his server in south africa?

All of his users will go on another website, one without a 3 seconds ping

eternal243 · 2008-09-15 14:39:21

Jérémie wrote:

eternal243 wrote:
so what if a french admin got his server in south africa?
All of his users will go on another website, one without a 3 seconds ping

lol yeah, although i meant what happens with the legal questions

Jérémie · 2008-09-15 14:46:24

Well, having good laws protection the individual and the citizen against abuse by corporations and governments, it's always a good thing. No need to expatriate yourself, your users or your servers for that.

Yes, an extension to purge old non used personal data would be a good thing. But it's not something for the core, since every jurisdiction would have a different set of laws, uses, habits, etc.

eternal243 · 2008-09-15 15:57:12

Jérémie wrote:

Well, having good laws protection the individual and the citizen against abuse by corporations and governments, it's always a good thing. No need to expatriate yourself, your users or your servers for that.
Yes, an extension to purge old non used personal data would be a good thing. But it's not something for the core, since every jurisdiction would have a different set of laws, uses, habits, etc.

agreed

patheticcockroach · 2008-09-15 16:10:33

Jérémie wrote:

it's not something for the core, since every jurisdiction would have a different set of laws, uses, habits, etc.

Good point...

Forums

#1 2008-09-14 22:44:56

Ability for user to delete him self.

#2 2008-09-14 22:50:34

Re: Ability for user to delete him self.

#3 2008-09-14 23:15:36

Re: Ability for user to delete him self.

#4 2008-09-14 23:40:43

Re: Ability for user to delete him self.

#5 2008-09-14 23:56:59

Re: Ability for user to delete him self.

#6 2008-09-15 00:00:38

Re: Ability for user to delete him self.

#7 2008-09-15 00:59:09

Re: Ability for user to delete him self.

#8 2008-09-15 11:08:28

Re: Ability for user to delete him self.

#9 2008-09-15 11:49:18

Re: Ability for user to delete him self.

#10 2008-09-15 12:12:46

Re: Ability for user to delete him self.

#11 2008-09-15 12:44:04

Re: Ability for user to delete him self.

#12 2008-09-15 13:24:18

Re: Ability for user to delete him self.

#13 2008-09-15 13:43:24

Re: Ability for user to delete him self.

#14 2008-09-15 13:54:22

Re: Ability for user to delete him self.

#15 2008-09-15 14:00:49

Re: Ability for user to delete him self.

#16 2008-09-15 14:32:15

Re: Ability for user to delete him self.

#17 2008-09-15 14:39:21

Re: Ability for user to delete him self.

#18 2008-09-15 14:46:24

Re: Ability for user to delete him self.

#19 2008-09-15 15:57:12

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#20 2008-09-15 16:10:33

Re: Ability for user to delete him self.

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