Deleted member querying data removal - GDPR

[zappaDPJ]

So basically there's no legal way round avoiding complete account deletion in the Uk.

That's largely correct but keep in mind that you're only looking to delete PII not the content created by the member unless it contains PII. In my view you need to treat it as a non-reversible action because that's the only way you can satisfy the regulations.

If I receive a request I verify that it is legitimate, give the member a grace period, ask them to identify the information they wish to be removed and ensure they understand that once I've removed their PII it is not reversible.

As I said earlier in the thread, if you carry out the request there should be no way back because there is no way for the member to verify their identity because you no longer hold that information.

One thing I will say is that in my experience almost everyone abandons their request once they realize it's non-reversible. I think it's also worth pointing out that while there maybe legitimate reasons for retaining PII, few of those reasons (as far as I am aware) have been put to the test and I don't want to be the person that sets the precedent because the penalties are harsh.

 

[Max Taxable]

Above all, let's not be in ANY hurry to do jack. Make 'em WAIT. Give it 30 days. Why you wanna be a slave to this crap when you don't have to be? Good grief, nothing in the law requires you to jump through stupid hoops. RELAX.

 

[Alvin63]

Cheers! This member, having said they wanted to leave for a while but keep their account open, then went on a rant on the forum and is now asking for a voluntary ban for a month due to feeling they have some problems right now. So I guess I'll do that. Although presumably a voluntary ban is the same as a normal ban.

 

[Alvin63]

Apologies for asking so much yet again - but how do you go about doing a temporary ban? I can only see the option to ban. I guess you could then make a note to lift the ban after a certain date.

 

[Paul B]

 

[Alvin63]

Thanks - so instead of going under the member's profile, you just put ban in the search box and select banned members and add another one, to get that screenshot above.

 

[Paul B]

No.

You do it from the profile.

 

[Alvin63]

Ok thanks. I did it the other way because I thought if I just selected ban member it might just ban them permanently without the temporary option coming up. But now I know different! So thanks.

 

[Black Tiger]

Indeed there is always the option to put in your agreement that users who want to delete their accounts will be put in a queue for 14 days (or 30 days) i case they would reconsider.
Also it's possible at time of request to send a message to the user that they don't really need to have their account remove, but there is always the option to disable all mail notifications (or do it for them) and keep the account in case the want to come back some time.

 

[Alvin63]

So out of the two members. The first one had the account deleted. The second one is now on a voluntary temporary ban. The first one, after having some time to think, has now rejoined with a new account (so yes I am going to avoid deleting any accounts in future).

I could just let them start from scratch but there is one thread I'd like to transfer over to the new account. Some members have a thread of their own they update now and then and others reply to. So is it as simple as moving all the posts in that thread to a new thread in the name of the new account name and then closing the original thread?

Ideally I'd just like to change the "Previous member" name to the new name and merge the accounts but that sounds quite complicated.

 

[Alvin63]

Actually no, because that member's posts in that thread would still be under the name "Previous Member".

 

[Mr Lucky]

Ideally I'd just like to change the "Previous member" name to the new name and merge the accounts

If the previous member is a deleted account then you can’t just merge accounts as you would normally as it is a guest

So is it as simple as moving all the posts in that thread to a new thread in the name of the new account name and then closing the original thread?

If you do that you wouldn’t need to close the original thread as it would no longer exist as you moved all the posts from it it. Or you could create a thread and then merge the two threads but the posts by deleted account will of course still be guest posts.

Unless you reassign them with the database query.

 

[Alvin63]

Thanks. On that thread I tried "change author" (one of Andy's addon) and that worked to change from the deleted account name to the new account name. But that would be slow and tedious to do throughout a 20 page thread. Presumably in that case I could run some command to change all versions of one name to the new name?

So you mean I can just merge the deleted account with the new one? I wasn't sure that was possible - especially as I didn't leave as the default "Deleted member 1234" but just called it "Previous member".

 

[Mr Lucky]

But that would be slow and tedious to do throughout a 20 page thread.

That would be the safest if you aren’t confident about the database query

So you mean I can just merge the deleted account with the new one? I wasn't sure that was possible - especially as I didn't leave as the default "Deleted member 1234" but just called it "Previous member"

Well if several accounts were deleted and renamed Previous member then no.

If it’s only one then the query should work but take a backup first

 

[Alvin63]

Thank you. Ok I've done it manually for the 20 page thread. But not sure if I now need to move all those posts to a new thread started by the new account name or not. Now that person's posts have their new name, presumably no need to start a new thread? Or do they need to be the thread starter as well? Ideally I guess.

No I only have the one account renamed Previous Member as part of the deletion process.

So how do I go about merging them?

 

[Alvin63]

Sorry just read back properly - I can't merge them as it's a deleted account. So presumably need to enter some commands.

 

[Slavik]

Sorry just read back properly - I can't merge them as it's a deleted account. So presumably need to enter some commands.

You would need to run some SQL on the posts and threads table to update the userid and username.

 

[Alvin63]

Thank you. Any instructions on how to do this? In file manager presumably?

 

[Mr Lucky]

I’m not really clear now about what the issue is if you changed author using Andy’s addon. As I said doing it like that is probably safer than the query I mentioned if you aren’t confident with database stuff.

 

[Alvin63]

I used the change author add on for the 20 page thread by that member. So was really just looking to replace the name littered about all the other threads for the past three months. Don't think it would be possible to do that manually without it taking a very long time!