Reddit can restore your deleted posts. However, if people flood them with GDPR / CCPA delete requests, they may become liable for lawsuits if they don’t comply.

It sounds like their current policy is to not delete your posts even when deleting your account, but there may be grounds for legal action here.

    • Sousa@lemmy.world
      1·
      1 year ago

      I’m sorry but that’s not what the User’s agreement and Privacy Policy says. It’s pretty obvious who’s the content’s owner and what rights we have over it. The only way reddit can keep that content is by making a derivate of the content, like stated above. As I can see some of my original posts being recovered after deletion, these are obviously not derivative of anything, they’re the original content.

      As of right now, I haven’t deleted my account, so this includes my username. That’s definitely personal data, and as such, they’re not allowed to recover the post without my consent. Maybe the solution to the problem at the moment is to keep an account in order to have more control over our content and make sure stays deleted. In case they change their UA or PP regarding this matter, then we should request the account’s deletion.

        • Sousa@lemmy.world
          11·
          1 year ago

          Personal data only matters from a GDPR point of view. Regarding Reddit’s UA and PP, that doesn’t have any relevance. They also specifically cover our current problem as an example:

          Please note, however, that the posts, comments, and messages you submitted prior to deleting your account will still be visible to others unless you first delete the specific content.


          Which is exactly what I (and many other people) did, and yet they’ve restored our content without our permission. And once again, at least in my case, I only deleted my posts and not my account as of right now. This means every single one of my restored posts has my handle on it, which is personal data.

          An individual’s social media ‘handle’ or username, which may seem anonymous or nonsensical, is still sufficient to identify them as it uniquely identifies that individual. The username is personal data if it distinguishes one individual from another regardless of whether it is possible to link the ‘online’ identity with a ‘real world’ named individual.


          It really doesn’t get any easier to understand, but please make sure to keep glazing spez.
          I’m sure he appreciates any support he can get right now.

            • valveman@lemmy.fmhy.ml
              1·
              1 year ago

              Right, but let’s suppose the following:

              I run some software to remove all my posts and comments (like PowerDeleteSuite), then go to some of these posts/comments and screenshot them, gathering proof the posts were in fact deleted. After a few days, if I go to these same posts/comments and screenshot them proving they were in fact restored by Reddit without my consent, wouldn’t this be a ToS/PP infringement by their part, thus opening the door for some legal action?

              Note that I’m not talking about GDPR since it only covers EU citizens and only applies when PII is involved (thanks for clarifying btw)

            • Sousa@lemmy.world
              11·
              1 year ago

              Surely you have loads of experience, yet you lack reading capabilities. I suggest you re-read the information above and draw your own conclusions. I won’t be discussing this any longer, as you must be clearly trolling or lacking in the reading department.

                • Sousa@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  11·
                  1 year ago

                  I was answering a comment regarding Reddit’s ownership of our content and if we’re allowed to delete it or not.
                  From OP:

                  Reddit can restore your deleted posts.
                  It sounds like their current policy is to not delete your posts even when deleting your account, but there may be grounds for legal action here.

                  I’m sure my comments are still well within topic here?
                  Lil bro tried to read a second time and still failed, please don’t try again. 😭😭😭😭

                  • Waldo495@kbin.social
                    1·
                    1 year ago

                    GDPR applies to all data that can be used to identify a living person (you). The Terms of Service are your contract with reddit, and intellectual property right in portions of your comments that are not personal data would apply to that. The privacy policy applies to everything, because it is the company’s notice about what they do and don’t do, and they must stick by that, or else they violate the FTC’s rules on consumer fairness (among other things). Most companies would simply allow users control over their comments to ensure GDPR compliance, although technically reddit is not required by GDPR to delete or afford any rights related to personal data… UNLESS, they have specified so in their privacy notice and/or terms of service. There, that’s my second comment ever in kbin. I’m personally very sick with Reddit’s conduct. It’s definitely enshitification. Either way, EU data protection authorities would take a very dim view of the willy-nillly way in which Reddit reinstated supposedly deleted comments even without considering the specific content. I suspect the FTC would not be real keen on it either.