14 Comments

  1. Fine, keep my information ARCHIVED, but archive it in such away that it LOOKS like I never existed. That means if someone searchs for me, I don’t come up in results, my picture isn’t on any fun wall or what ever.

    Oh, and don’t even THINK about sending me anything to my email address. Ever. Hear me?

    This is what is the problem with the way Facebook does their “account disabling”. You still show up in searches and what have you. I had to fake it by changing the registered email address and name, so no one could search for me any more. That is not user experience.

  2. These firms are probably subject to laws pertaining to archiving. I think it’s 7 years in AU. But beyond that, all records should be deleted.

    In any case, your argument is terrible and it seems that even you know this.

  3. You are kidding right? I absolutely passionately believe that no system profile information should be thrown away. If you don’t want it up there, forever, don’t put it up. Full stop.

    Bastards that cause grief and then delete profiles believing their immature attacks can’t be traced, are a nightmare.

    Stick with anonymity – your inability to articulate why “this argument is terrible” might protect you. Challenge for you is understanding that tracking software which shows IP addresses, entry and exit pages are available anyway on blogs. Time visited, time comment left etc.

    I use Stat Counter (bottom right of each blog page) You just don’t know what your network knows about you, do you? Good luck with staying anonymous 🙂

  4. I’ve never thought of it all that way as I sit on the side of the user (not the manager/owner). As a user, I’m always signing up for different services to see what they do, and I like it when I can delete my account when I want to leave. And it’s annoying and frustrating when I can’t delete easily. Interestingly, I’ve *perceived* it as a violation when I’ve not been able to delete without fuss (kind of like the *opting out* function in marketing materials).

    But I get what you’re saying – there has to be a difference between *deleting* an account and *archiving* it so that I (and my information) is no longer visible.

    I’d be curious to know if there are legal issues in different jurisdictions around holding information.

    Thanks for the post and for getting me to think about the other side of the fence for a moment.

  5. I agree on the basis of your point and your point only – that should cover the 1% but for the remaining 99% of us, frankly I cannot see the reasons why. Our information is ours alone and if we want it deleted we should have that choice? Now for that 1%, there is or must be an obligation on the operator to ensure instances like those mentioned by you should never take place – the use of filters, better management systems, lifting the age barrier or whatever. A scary example is google.com/history where every search you have made using your log in name is there in full view for all to see (if they have your google account details). In the wrong hands this information can be scary, notwithstanding the original intent of such a service. So for me I believe there is always a better mouse trap just need to fully understand the original intent and devise strategies and systems to cover the 1 percenters.

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