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?
This is such a good point! I know the argument against is that everyone who comes upon the discussion later loses all context since some of it will be deleted but you are absolutely right, the user chose to put it up and it should be up to the user if it stays up.
Yeah absolutely, I know firsthand it can be frustrating when the answer to a question has been deleted, but I also know in my experience that generally those answers can still be found somewhere else. Or the person searching for the answer can just ask in a new post.
Sorry if being repetitive but to rephrase: imo the person who creates/posts something should be considered to "own" that creation/post and be able to remove it if they want to. In the same way I'd argue people should be able to destroy their own physical property if they want to.