There are two possibilities for how to handle how are user deletes the data from their account:
- When a user deletes their account, all user references and connections are removed from the post/comment but the content remains up. If the content contains any personally identifiable information (PII), moderators and admins can be contacted to take that information down.
- When a user deletes their account, all content, pictures, and user connections are completely deleted and the post/comment cannot be restored in any way.
As people are finding, #1 is somewhat what Reddit does as they find previously deleted posts are having their content re-added with their user info scrubbed. From some other comments I have read, this is in compliance with the GDPR as all of the PII is removed from the rest of the content.
SpeakBits has been implemented with #2. The issue with #2 is that content that users would still find useful and relevant is now gone because a user deleted their account even though there is nothing about the contentthat is about the user that posted it.
I'm wondering what people think is the right approach?