If at some point you want to delete your account and have your posts and comments be gone, you better delete it all manually before you actually delete the account, because that deletion process does not really work as advertised.

For my main account on world (which runs an outdated lemmy version), it seemed like at least the account deletion was federated so that my user page was no longer browsable from other instances, but none of my posts, comments or images had been deleted, not even on the home instance.

The homie @MrKaplan@lemmy.world helped me by manually deleting my stuff, but it seems like that has only worked for the home instance, posts and comments seem to still be readable from other instances (except for some of the images that MrKaplan manually deleted too, but that was only possible up to a date not too far in the past because lemmy used to not associate user uploads with the accounts). So my old posts from the world account can be viewed just fine from other instances:

https://lemm.ee/post/1379925

For other instances that are more up to date the process is even worse imo, while locally things seem to get deleted, federation does not seem to happen at all. For example you can still browse my deleted slrpnk or lemmee accounts from other instances just fine:

https://slrpnk.net/u/achtungdrempels@lemm.ee

https://lemm.ee/u/AchtungDrempels@slrpnk.net

Account deletion in piefed works kinda like the old lemmy system (as on lemmy.world), and nothing gets deleted except the user page (which also seems to get federated), the posts and comments stay up.

Thought this would be interesting to some, if i had known what a mess this would be (obviously expected some federation issues, just not like that), i would have manually deleted everything. I deleted all these accounts in December, maybe this has been addressed somehow in the meantime, personally i’d have trust issues in this process.

  • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 @pawb.socialEnglish
    1·
    1 hour ago

    The way federation works, I would not ever rely on deleting things to actually work 100%.

    1. It takes time to send the request out to everywhere that might have duplicated it.

    2. The request may never be received.

    3. Instances can ignore deletion requests even if they do get them.

    4. Archival bots and even users can save it if they saw it and do not get any deletion requests.

    Best practice anywhere on the internet is to simply not post anything you don’t expect to stay online forever.

  • nutomic@lemmy.mlEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago

    When deleting the account did you mark the checkbox “Delete all posts, comments and uploaded images”? Lemmy.world is running an old version so its possible that this is missing. Without that it is expected that only the profile gets deleted, while content is still available.

    As for federated account deletion this is implemented and covered by test cases and should work in theory. However it is always possible that there is a bug. It would be helpful if you could open an issue with exact steps to reproduce. Use enterprise.lemmy.ml and ds9.lemmy.ml to test the latest version.

    • bonjour@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      1·
      2 days ago

      I get that world should be an outlier. World does not have the checkbox, it just says “esto eliminará permanentamente todos sus datos de esta instancia” :) Thought that would include posts etc, but if i understood that right, it was working as intended.

      As for the other instances, i did use the checkbox and the accounts etc are gone from the home instance but not anywhere else - at least that is true for the slrpnk account on all the instances that i checked.

      Now i’m surprised to find my lemm.ee account is actually gone from lemmy.ml and db0. But it is not from world, slrpnk.net, lemmy.ca, sopuli, blahaj, feddit.org, jlai.lu, discuss.online, infosec.pub, programming.dev, lemmy.nz, but at least something seems to have been federated with this deletion.

      I deleted those accounts in late December.

      I deleted a newly created account on jlaiu.lu two days ago, they’re running 0.19.5 but i think they have the checkbox (which i have then ticked) and my comment and profile deletion has federated nicely over the instances that i checked.

      I would not know how to reproduce all this. I just deleted my accounts and checked the checkbox if it was available.

      • nutomic@lemmy.mlEnglish
        2·
        2 days ago

        Originally account deletion would always delete your posts, comments and everything. This was changed in 0.19 to make the content deletion optional (otherwise a lot of posts and comments would disappear unnecessarily). Unfortunately we forgot to add the new option to the user interface for 0.19, but it was added probably around 0.19.4.

        Its hard to say why the federation didnt work properly, maybe there was a network error, or a bug in older Lemmy versions that got fixed in the meantime. Or there is still a bug which only happens in some cases.

  • hendrik@palaver.p3x.deEnglish
    0·
    4 days ago

    Out of curiosity: What’s a reason to delete all the content? I don’t want to imply you shouldn’t be able to do so… But I often find it very annoying when people delete large quantities of stuff. Because that also deletes the comments I made, which took me time to write. It deletes my bookmarks. And sometimes people wipe their history regularly, which removes technical questions along with the correct answers and other material that might prove useful to other people, if it weren’t deleted… And I had things that I’d have liked to return to, vanish into thin air multiple times now.

    I’d like to understand the perspectives and two sides of that coin. And since you say you’d like to delete content, I thought I’d ask about your perspective and the why…

    • smeg@feddit.ukEnglish
      0·
      3 days ago

      Data privacy (the “right to be forgotten”) I’d say is the main reason. Say you realise that you’ve built up a little to much linkable information about yourself over the years and don’t want it readily available for whoever might want to make use of it.

      • hendrik@palaver.p3x.deEnglish
        0·
        3 days ago

        Good use-case. Would it suffice to “unlink” the information in that case, instead of deleting it? I think that’d solve both problems. The posts and comments would stay in place for everyone to keep using them, but it’d say “by [deleted user]”, so it’s forgotten that you (or someone) wrote it.

        I’m not sure. And we somehow need to present that to the user without overwhelming them with several options, delete account without data, delete account and unlink content, delete account and content…

        • JackbyDev@programming.devEnglish
          0·
          3 days ago

          It doesn’t matter. If someone believes they’ve linked too much and wants to delete it, they should be able to. If someone wants to delete their content for any reason they should be able to.

          • gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
            1·
            3 days ago

            Honestly? No, they should t be able to blanket delete everything theyve posted on the off chance it’s identifiable information

            They should have the right to find that info and remove it, but I’m 1000% against people potentially taking down useful information from society and I do not care that people want to whine about their “right” to take their fucking ball back and end the game

            So much useful info gone from Reddit because babies didn’t want to keep supporting the bad site and now good luck finding it anywhere else

  • Steve@communick.newsEnglish
    0·
    4 days ago

    The problem isn’t in the system, but in your expectations.
    You’re starting with a wrong assumption that things publicly available on the internet can simply be deleted. That’s not how any of this works.

    Maybe that’s our fault. Maybe we weren’t clear enough back when you started using the internets. But It’s true, deleting things online is very difficult. You shouldn’t ever expect it to be simple or easy.

    • Corroded@leminal.spaceEnglish
      0·
      4 days ago

      Don’t you think that’s shifting the goalpost a bit? OP isn’t talking about something being archived they’re talking about a piece of content on social media still directly linking to that username.

      Deleting things in as many places as possible making it harder to access is still a net positive.

      It’s about as much of a part or mechanic of Lemmy as posting is.

      • Steve@communick.newsEnglish
        0·
        4 days ago

        Don’t you think that’s shifting the goalpost a bit? OP isn’t talking about something being archived they’re talking about a piece of content on social media still directly linking to that username.

        What goal post? There is no actual, technical, difference, between archive and active. As soon as a post is made, it’s old, and part of the accessible archive of past posts and accounts.

        A basic reality from the beginning of the internet, is that you once you make something publicly available, it’s out there. You can’t really ever take it back. It’s just a fundamental principal of how the internet works. A lot of people seem to forget that.

        • Corroded@leminal.spaceEnglish
          0·
          4 days ago

          But deleting stuff is an easy way to limit the amount of potential viewers.

          Most people aren’t going to put in the effort. If OP’s account deletion spreads across most of Lemmy, even just the larger instances, most people aren’t going to see their older posts.

          That seems to be what OP is after. More in line with hiding poorly written Doctor Who fan fiction than hiding from the government in the woods.

          • Steve@communick.newsEnglish
            0·
            4 days ago

            You’re still missing the fundamental reality of the situation.

            Stuff online generally doesn’t get deleted. And almost never because you want it to. I think the EU passed a law about the “right to be forgotten”. But the reality is, that’s like fighting gravity. The effort and resources it takes to truly break orbit are far beyond most people’s, and even most government’s means. Same with truly deleting anything online.

            • Corroded@leminal.spaceEnglish
              0·
              3 days ago

              But that’s not what is being talked about. I don’t think OP is expecting an all or nothing situation. You’re talking like you’ve never deleted anything online

              • Steve@communick.newsEnglish
                0·
                3 days ago

                Yes.
                Op isn’t expecting an all or nothing. I’m suggesting they should expect nothing. All isn’t even worth talking about.

                And yes.
                I’ve never deleted anything online. Never had a reason to. If I ever imagined a reason I’d want to delete something, I wouldn’t post it to begin with. Because I know I can’t delete it. See how that works. So what if I was wrong, or embarrassing, that’s part of being human, own you’re mistakes and move on. Don’t hide them. They are who you were. They are how you got where you are. They’re responsible for who you’ve become. Take pride in the failings of your past.

                • Corroded@leminal.spaceEnglish
                  1·
                  1 hour ago

                  OP is expecting the deletion of posts and comments to federate in the same ways posting them would. I don’t think they’re necessarily going scorched earth and care about someone quoting their comment in a reply or resharing a photo.

                  I think that’s a bit grandiose of a stance. If I misread what someone said or realized someone already said what I did I don’t think deleting it leads to any kind of growth.

                  That’s setting aside how draining it can be to reply to several people who are making the same argument about how you are wrong. If I couldn’t delete what I posted at that point I would just be creating a slew of edits to justify myself like people regularly do on Reddit whenever they get downvoted.

  • LandedGentry@lemmy.zipEnglish
    0·
    4 days ago

    I edit over and then delete all my comments every few days. I’ve never encountered a site that truly purges your account so as annoying it is it just feels necessary at this point

    edit: interesting some of us are getting downvotes for this.

    • Skull giver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nlEnglish
      0·
      4 days ago

      I do the same (though I have automated the process). I’m thinking of also undoing any votes just in case.

      Edit+delete doesn’t remove content when servers defederate each other, unfortunately. I suspect this can be fixed if you control the Lemmy server your account is hosted on, but I haven’t bothered exploring that yet.