Another update and possibly a solution for some case where posts were not properly deleted. Seems I jumped the gun on this and the restores haven’t been intentional - at least not in this particular case.
There is a limitation in the popular Powerdelete that apparently prevents mass editing. Here is a link to a new version with a build-in delay and some other alternatives:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/145fico/comment/jnl4xmr/
There are other reported cases where manually deleted post reappeared or other scripts have been used, so this doesn’t solve all issues but explains how posts that were both edited and deleted withPowerdelete weren’t properly deleted and reappeared after subs went back live.
Update: As some have pointed out: the restores can be rollbacks from the server issues or post haven’t been properly deleted due to subs being private during blackouts. Many have experienced the same issue, I can’t explain how this happens. I’ll just run the script again, try the GDPR request and delete my account.
Also worth noting: according to the ToS Reddit can actually do whatever they want with existing content, apparently we agreed to this when signing up.
Worth noting is that a number of US states also have strong protection laws. So, delete you comments manually and then, if you’re really trying to ensure that they delete your data, submit a data removal request that cites your locale’s law on data removal.
Theeeeeen in 6 months or so, send a data retrieval request to make sure they followed through… and report them if they did not comply. Might as well make them pay for that data if they can’t follow the rules.
In the US, indicate that you’re in California for the strongest legal option.
Assuming that this is, in fact, not legal and if they have money that can be gone after, I assume that someone may start a class action suit. In theory, they’re worth multiple billions, so…
An individual probably doesn’t care much about whatever harm is done, as the damage is too small. But this is the kind of thing where a lawyer can walk away with a big payday by aggregating cases of many users and then getting a percentage of any payout.
I am not at all certain that it is not legal, though.
undefined> In theory, they’re worth multiple billions, so…
wen Lambo?
I deleted all my content but I did it over the span of a few days, to let the different caches around reddit to update with the new void, and my content is still deleted (so far).
I said it before and I say it again: if you have the patience to do so then make sure you overwrite your content with chatgpt generated content, as the future AI that will feed on your post HATE feeding on already AI generated stuff. It makes the AI diverge.
edit: Filling your previous content with random generated content also make it harder to restore because it is harder to spot, compared with the comments which are simply “deleted”. Also, if all of it is really true, congratulation to reddit for demonstrating to everyone and specially the USA how useful the GDPR is for the citizen.
I manually deleted most of my comments but left a few and decided to go and edit them with AI rephrasing as someone suggested. I mostly deleted the older comments and got confused when I saw 2 comments reappear. This makes sense now.
Holy damn. I deleted all my comments and my account ~a week ago. I don’t even know how to check if they restored something. 😠
Check a thread you know you wrote something in?
My money is on this being a big due to the huge influx of comment updates and deletions. I can’t imagine they would do something this blatant on purpose.
I can’t imagine they would do something this blatant on purpose.
We are at the peak of the “AI” hype cycle, where training data is a huge asset. Never underestimate the power of $$$ (or the illusion of it) being waved under somebody’s nose.
Motherfucker! I just checked my profile, and they DID restore the posts I edited+deleted with PowerDeleteSuite. Thankfully it’s just the posts from the past week or so, I had deleted my entire 8 year history before that, and that stayed deleted. I’m assuming they monitored other API access calls past the days where the blackout started to restore those.
Same here. I’m a 12 year account on Reddit and I had been in the habit of deleting my history regularly due to an ex that likes to stalk my posts. Everything recent that I deleted this week is back but the stuff I deleted prior to that is still gone.
I just went back and edited it all again to state it’s been removed in protest in favor of moving to the fediverse.
Warning, someone on reddit mentioned this is a known bug of the application used
What the actual fuck?
This really is getting worse by the minute…
You should bear in mind, PowerDeleteSuite doesn’t get everything. It can only see what’s in your reddit profile under New, Top, Hot & Controversial - there will be numerous posts that are too old with only 1 or a few karma that aren’t displayed in these lists. In particular, if you go through your top posts of all time, you might find some replies to these posts that you made that the script did not see.
The GDPR archive gives a full list of all the comments. What we need is a FOSS script that can use these csv files to get everything. Apparently Shreddit can take the csv files, however you have to pay $15 to use this feature.
Does anyone know if we have similar rights under PIPEDA here in Canada? Can we use that to legally enforce deletion in the same way?
https://blog.rsisecurity.com/canadas-pipeda-vs-eus-gdpr-whats-the-difference/amp/
That link is just too request the bulk of your data. It’s not a form to request deletion of all your data. Technically you could request that, but if they deny out ignore that, then there’s not a whole lot you can do unless you’re ready to take it to court.
If you’re in the EU, report it to the Data Protection Authority in your country. They must provide you with a copy of your data and also purge it upon request.
The EU or the UK. The Information Commissioners Office would take an exceptionally dim view of this shit.
I’m not sure whether under GDPR your posts would be classified as Personal Identifiable Information - which is what the GDPR is mainly about
deleted by creator
Informative. Thank you
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What if you post a photo of yourself (like they do in AMAs). Surely it ties your profile to your “natural person” then and would subject all your content (since its connected to your profile) to be covered by GDPR?
I think one could make an argument that data Reddit has falls into the category: “Personal data basically means any information about a living person, where that person either is identified or could be identified. Personal data can cover various types of information, such as name, date of birth, email address, phone number, address, physical characteristics, or location data – once it is clear to whom that information relates, or it is reasonably possible to find out.” People post all kinds of information on Reddit that leads back to their identity, making it reasonably possible to find out who they are (hence why people get doxxed). https://www.dataprotection.ie/sites/default/files/uploads/2019-07/190710%20Data%20Protection%20Basics.pdf
Edit: But that said, there are exceptions where entities may retain data in furtherance of other objectives, and erasing data isn’t the same as formally requesting its removal, so while this is all super shitty and shady, it might not actually be illegal. We need the data privacy experts to weigh in!
So, so, so glad I deleted my entire account. This is so unethical.
I’m sorry to say this but, they probably restored all of your posts too. It will just say “deleted” as your username but the posts and comments will be in their old place.
It makes me wonder if they would restore wiped comments from accounts that have been deleted?
As I understand it (and I may not!) deleting your account leaves all your comments in place, but without your username.
That should be the policy but Reddit states it can take up to 90 days to disconnect content from a user profile and personally - I wouldn’t bet on it if it seems they are doing this manually (why else would this take 90 days?).
If this is not a bug, it’s pretty wild. I don’t think this is even compliant to GDPR as for European users unless there is legal obligation or for archiving in public interest, scientific progress etc. I have a hard time seeing protection for Reddit here as it’s just a social news site, there’s no way around that. It’s not a bundle of research papers and the police hasn’t come knocking on their door asking them to recover content.
Quick and dirty Google search says GDPR law is complicated when it comes to backups https://www.itgovernance.eu/blog/en/the-gdpr-how-the-right-to-be-forgotten-affects-backups-2
Even if having backups of the data is legal, it seems highly doubtful that restoring data that a user intentionally deleted would be allowed.
