225
Reddit user alleges California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) non-compliance/violation; and finds it difficult to delete posts and content on Reddit (youtube.com)
submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by malloc@lemmy.world to c/reddit@lemmy.world
113 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Video description as of 2023-06-23 10:15 PDT:

This video shows that Reddit refused to delete all comments and posts of its users when they close their account via a CCPA / GDPR request. Posts and comments may contain PII. Specifically, Reddit tells users that they must delete the content themselves, which isn't realistic if a user creates a lot of posts. Even if a user does delete their content, Reddit restores the content within a few days.

Video transcript:

  • 2023-06-13 @ 15:15 PDT: user states he deleted all posts and comments
  • 2023-06-16 @ 10:15 PDT (3 days later): user states all posts and comments have been restored
  • 2023-06-19: user decides to submit a legal request under CCPA to delete content
  • 2023-06-19 @ 11:07 PDT: user receives reply from "Reddit Legal Support" (RLS) which states they will delete the account but not the content associated with the account. It is up to the owner of the account to remove the content [e-mail contents reproduced below]
Reddit Legal Support (Reddit Support)
Jun 19, 2023, 11:07 PDT

Hello,

We would be happy to help you delete your Reddit account if you have one. Before we proceed please note:

 1. Account deletion is irreversible.
 2. Posts and comments must be separately deleted before deleting your account. If not separately deleted, the content of the posts and comments will remain visible and disassociated from any account. If you want your posts and comments removed, follow the instructions on our help page. 

Once the above mentioned information is removed to your satisfaction, please submit your deletion request by using your Reddit account and this form so we know it's really you making the request.

More information about account deletion is available in our Privacy Policy.

Kind regards,

Reddit Legal Support
  • 2023-06-19 @ 12:02 PDT: user replies back to RLS stating it is unrealistic expectation for end user to manually delete and alleges violation of CCPA [reply reproduced below]
Hello,

If I understand your response properly, you are refusing to delete all data associated with my account. I believe this is illegal and in violation of the CPR. In this case the onus is on you, Reddit, to delete all of the content associated with my account. 

It is besides the point but last week I already deleted all of the posts and comments associated with my account. However Reddit has since restored most of the content.

It is untenable to demand all users to manually delete content when Reddit itself does not provide a self-serve mechanism to mass-delete content. Some users have thousands of posts and millions of comments. 

Just as a reminder, my CPA request to delete my account and all associated data was made on June 19th 2023 and must be completed by August 3rd 2023.
  • 2023-06-24 @ 10:45 PDT: user has not received a reply from RLS. He decided to painstakingly delete all posts and comments while screen recording the effort. Video continues with the user manually deleting posts for his account (https://www.reddit.com/user/nucleocide). Then fast forwards to the end of the segment where the last posts are deleted
  • 2023-06-25 @ 10:25 PDT: user discovers posts and comments are restored, again

User concludes video and clarifies why this is a violation of CCPA:

At this point it appears impossible to manually delete posts and comments on Reddit and expect them to stay deleted. 

By not deleting all posts and comments in an automated way there is no way to guarantee that no PII [Personally Identifiable Information] has been left behind.

For example ...

<user gives example of a comment from 6 months ago on his account which includes his real first name and last name. Screen capture shows the comment was edited recently>

Since there is no guarantee that every single post and comment is free from PII, Reddit must delete all comments and posts from an account upon receiving a GDPR / CPA request.

Reddit Discussion on "/r/videos": https://old.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/14je01k/reddit_may_be_violating_the_fucking_ccpa/

[2023-06-23 14:52 PDT] edit ~ formatting, fix title typo

(page 2) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] greenmarty@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

Is there bot / tool to edit my reddit posts in batch ? Seems that editing could be harder to mass reverse as it requires someone to review if the edit was for better or worse.

Alternatively to keep on deleting my reddit posts every day ?

[-] megane_kun@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

Alternatively to keep on deleting my reddit posts every day ?

Late to the game here, but that's the approach I've gone with. I got Shreddit, made a config file (containing the necessary detail for all my accounts), and made a shell script that I ran three times a day, likely until June 30.

Nowadays, my accounts look clean enough, and whenever some post or comment resurface, the next run of the script should take care of it.

And just on top of all that, I do check my accounts from a different browser I never use Reddit on. So far it's clean-looking, no posts or replies showing on any of them. But whether or not Reddit actually deleted them, I'm not sure. I'm never sure.

load more comments (9 replies)
[-] RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

Is anyone surprised at this?

I think Reddit should be forced to retroactively delete all comments and post history from users who have since deleted their account. If the user account was deleted, there is no reason they should be allowed to keep the data on that deleted account, period.

[-] WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

Facebook has entered the chat

[-] Zuberi@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

Call them out on LinkedIn. Bet.

[-] static@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago

Interesting, from a GDPR perspective this is unacceptable.
Pondering about a proper GDPR complaint.

some of my old reddit accounts might have > 1000 comments.

[-] eleitl@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

My account is 16+ year old and has 300 k combined karma. I will be sure to contact my data protection officer to complain. Reddit needs an audit to document they wipe the db properly, and the data is gone from backups. Not just my data, anything they got on me.

[-] fishcurry509@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

After seeing the comments above, I was about to say precisely this. Getting the data protection authority involved is the most sensible way.

load more comments (4 replies)
[-] hurp_mcderp@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

I am obviously not a lawyer but I don't see how Reddit is in the wrong here. On GDPR.EU that "The EU’s GDPR only applies to personal data, which is any piece of information that relates to an identifiable person. It’s crucial for any business with EU consumers to understand this concept for GDPR compliance." I don't see how your comment history would be considered "personal data".

It even says in Reddit's TOS that "When Your Content is created with or submitted to the Services, you grant us a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, transferable, and sublicensable license to use, copy, modify, adapt, prepare derivative works of, distribute, store, perform, and display Your Content and any name, username, voice, or likeness provided in connection with Your Content in all media formats and channels now known or later developed anywhere in the world".

You've agreed that your posts are no longer your "personal data" at that point...

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] ArugulaZ@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago

It's funny. I got a little drunk and posted something on Reddit I really ought not have. I went back a day later and deleted it. A day after that, the comment came back, and I was suspended for three days over it. If you hadn't brought that comment back from the dead, this wouldn't even have happened, but okay, whatever. It wasn't like I wanted to spent too much time at Reddit after the lemur-eyed, horse-teethed worm told us how expendable we all are as users.

[-] hamFoilHat@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

I have been removing my posts from Reddit over the last week and have found that you don't see and can't remove posts from subreddits that you don't have access to. I keep seeing sets of posts all from the same subreddit as they come out of blackout.

[-] admiralteal@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago

This is the main reason people keep claiming comments are "being restored". They aren't, they just were on private subs that were reactivated.

But that means if you delete your account while a sub is private, you lose all access to be able to delete those posts when they come back.

Reddit needs to provide some kind of service or tool to delete ALL posts made by your account to avoid this problem. Many people who deleted their accounts without knowing this loophole are currently SOOL. I really, really hope they face some regulatory response/fines because of this.

[-] epocsquadron@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago

Worth noting Colorado and very recently Connecticut have similar laws, so the complaint could be leveraged from multiple states.

[-] PutangInaMo@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

Just use shreddit..

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›
this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2023
225 points (100.0% liked)

Reddit

17793 readers
380 users here now

News and Discussions about Reddit

Welcome to !reddit. This is a community for all news and discussions about Reddit.

The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:

Rules

Rule 1- No brigading.

**You may not encourage brigading any communities or subreddits in any way. **

YSKs are about self-improvement on how to do things.

Rule 2- No illegal or NSFW or gore content.

**No illegal or NSFW or gore content. **

Rule 3- Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here.

Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here. Breaking this rule will not get you or your post removed, but it will put you at risk, and possibly in danger.

Rule 4- No self promotion or upvote-farming of any kind.

That's it.

Rule 5- No baiting or sealioning or promoting an agenda.

Posts and comments which, instead of being of an innocuous nature, are specifically intended (based on reports and in the opinion of our crack moderation team) to bait users into ideological wars on charged political topics will be removed and the authors warned - or banned - depending on severity.

Rule 6- Regarding META posts.

Provided it is about the community itself, you may post non-Reddit posts using the [META] tag on your post title.

Rule 7- You can't harass or disturb other members.

If you vocally harass or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.

Likewise, if you are a member, sympathiser or a resemblant of a movement that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of a group of people, and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you will be banned on sight.

Rule 8- All comments should try to stay relevant to their parent content.

Rule 9- Reposts from other platforms are not allowed.

Let everyone have their own content.

:::spoiler Rule 10- Majority of bots aren't allowed to participate here.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
ja2@lemmy.world
Rooki@lemmy.world
Thekingoflorda@lemmy.world
_MoveSwiftly@lemmy.world
L3s@lemmy.world