Reference: Allow the users to deactivate or delete their accounts - #2 by ondrej - support - Discourse Meta
Hey @anon9140225 – I guess what you’re asking of @moderators is to change these settings to make it easier for people to self delete accounts?
I’ve gone ahead and changed these settings.
So, a user can self-delete if they have 14 or less posts, and if their account is less than 180 days old.
I don’t really have strong opinions on these settings, so open to discussion on what the right numbers are.
And, feel free to DM me or @moderators if you want help with your account.
Usually what happens in regards to things I really like (say TW5) goes like this. I check out what is happening lately → I convince myself that checking in/working on a project a couple of times a day is not unhealthy → I end up obsessing over it → I need to checkout/deactivate the account → Rinse and repeat.
In Google groups I could unsubscribe from the group without involving anyone, and subscribe back without involving anyone either. I was miffed to find out that this ain’t the case with Discourse.
To me it is not about the “numbers”. It is about
- the fundamental idea of ownership over one’s own account
- hesitancy to inconvenience someone everytime I need to take a break.
Nevertheless it is a good idea to discuss within community what are reasonable numbers.
Sincerely,
Riz.
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Ah, I see. You can turn off all email notifications if you want to unsubscribe / pause getting notified.
Here’s some writing on that:
When someone deletes their accounts, what happens to all their messages? Do they stay? Do they stay but are identified as “deleted user” ? If a person deletes their account but comes back, do the messages become theirs again?
If a person self-deletes, messages are deleted.
No, deleted messages are at some point purged from the database, so signing up again won’t make them come back.
When you unsubscribed on GG, were your old messages deleted, or ??
If you want to leave a Google Group, you will only be asked if you are sure. You get an Info, that you will loose access to data that has been closed. … That’s all.
My global google account settings don’t show data about GG. It only shows data about Youtube and GMail, which I would be able to delete.
To delete GG data I would probably need to contact Google support.
GG has a Terms of service link at the “bottom left” of the TiddlyWiki group page. Depending on where you are different rules apply to your account. For my account Google Ireland’s TOS apply.
In the TOS there is no info about deleting my content, other than Google’s rights, to do so. The only reference to content removal is the PrivacyPolicy, which is not part of the GG TOS.
See:
Besides these terms, we also publish a Privacy Policy. Although it’s not part of these terms, we encourage you to read it to better understand how you can update, manage, export, and delete your information.
You can play with your account settings yourself. … Let us know what you found out about your data and GG. …
What about the replies to posts from a self-deleted user?
Just trying to understand what the implications are.
Among other things, some of the tiddlywiki links are links to forum threads. If those threads no longer exist, or the key post is missing, then they are somewhat less useful.
Yes, which is exactly why not automatically letting people delete posts in shared spaces is tricky.
I read a bit on the Mozilla Discourse forum about how they anonymize the account rather than deleting it.
There is a button in the admin-interface to anonymize an account
I’m late to this thread. But I was really interested by @anon9140225’s early posts, expressing a basic thing any user might feel, the: “fundamental … ownership over one’s own account” (and content in it).
But then, later, in the thread other things came up.
I have no answers here. Merely to comment that the net generally on social network sites is a “mixed-bag” on rights. As far as I can see there is an ongoing tension between “publishing thoughts” (irreversibly, they are no longer yours per se, but, at least partly, the publishers’ property???) and “definitive ownership of content forever by the author”.
My point? The whole thing is kinda vague. Still. A lot of “small print” obscures what the true situation is.
Just a comment
TT
Right. For instance, if you withdrew your posts here on Discourse, or on GG, there would be much lamentation, woe and gnashing-of-teeth.
Best TT, x
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That makes sense when a user deletes/abandons their access capability but leaves their posts behind.
I think it is quite common, either by explicit exit or simple neglect??
Thoughts, TT
I forgot to mention death.
How do you guys handle that (know it occured). Or does a registered user live forever? 
A comment, TT