Delete my forum account please.

gilizama

I'd like to terminate my account here on the forums. I decided to leave the internet world, due to the fact that I have no time here anymore, because I am a busy housewife and mother. And I do not want to keep ANY information of me on the internet at all.

sarahk

That may be easier said than done. Forum owners don't tend to like to delete their content. Nor do directories or any other place you may have participated.

I can appreciate you don't have time to be online anymore but erasing all trace that you were ever here is pretty extreme don't you think?

gilizama

sarahk wrote:
That may be easier said than done. Forum owners don't tend to like to delete their content. Nor do directories or any other place you may have participated.

I can appreciate you don't have time to be online anymore but erasing all trace that you were ever here is pretty extreme don't you think?

yes, i agree that it's pretty extreme. but i do want my privacy. i have accounts on many many MANY forum boards, and I just don't want it or use it at all. i have numerous email accounts and it's just too much. i've done a google search on my email addresses, usernames, and instant messenger screen names, and I have like about 2-4 pages of search results in google. I just want it all gone.

Weedpacket

Well, once the information's out there it's pretty much there permanently in one way or another (I've found traces of my doings from over a decade ago cropping up on occasion). It's in the nature of the beast: with no one in control of the Net, there's no way to reliably clean it up.

One thing that's unlikely to happen would be your posts being deleted, as sarahk notes. But what you can do now is go into your profile and blank out all your publicly-visible contact details (your home page, those three IM contacts). The rest, not being publicly visible, won't get indexed by search engines.

JPnyc

I'm afraid we don't delete accounts.

abda53

thats true about wayback machine, but it doesnt store ALL information on there. and considering she only had 11 posts (probably about 7 or 8 not including this thread) it would be safe to assume that waybackmachine did not get her screenname, or any info about it.

if she was really paranoid she can just go into her account, change all of her info, and then change her password to something she would not remember. or if she was VERY paranoid, she could change her name, move, and get a new phone number.

the best way to stay anonymous on the internet... is not to go on it. and even that doesnt always work.

sarahk

I think the wayback machine was referring to the OP's other sites and activities online. Erasing yourself isn't feasible.

BobLennon

JPnyc wrote:
I'm afraid we don't delete accounts.

Your reply seems a bit arrogant to me.

Who gives you the right to deny a person's request to remove their information from your forum?

And while I can recognize that that action will not remove all traces from the internet, it seems like the right thing to do when a user requests this action.

sarahk

What about the disjointed conversations that will be created?

Do they delete every thread the person has participated in?

What would be left if Weedpacket got huffy and left?

BobLennon

sarahk wrote:
What about the disjointed conversations that will be created?

Do they delete every thread the person has participated in?

What would be left if Weedpacket got huffy and left?

Surely you don't believe that deleting a persons comments on the forum implies deleting all the threads.

What would be left if Weedpacket got huffy..

That's another issue. Let's hope we don't come to that.

JPnyc

It's something of a moot point since we don't delete accounts or posts.

BobLennon

JPnyc wrote:
It's something of a moot point since we don't delete accounts or posts.

What's really important is that a person has requested that her personal information be withdrawn from this forum.

That is a reasonable request. And certainly if this forum is supportive of its contributors, that request should be honored, not only for it's interest in privacy, but also from the view of doing the right thing.

Under the circumstances, how can you view this as a moot point?

Since you indicate that "we don't" do this, I must ask if you are really in a position to formulate policy and speak in these terms for this forum?

I'd appreciate an explanation if that is the case.

Weedpacket

BobLennon wrote:
What's really important is that a person has requested that her personal information be withdrawn from this forum.

And all publicly-visible user information that PHPBuilder has any control over has already been removed (by the user, two weeks ago). What else should be erased?

Since you indicate that "we don't" do this, I must ask if you are really in a position to formulate policy and speak in these terms for this forum?

JPnyc is managing editor of PHPBuilder's forums. That's why he gets the whizzbangy font effects on his name. He actually gets paid to run this place.

Under the circumstances, how can you view this as a moot point?

http://www.jupitermedia.com/corporate/privacy/aup.html

Your use of the forums, message boards, and any other public discussion medium (collectively, the "Forums") hosted by Jupitermedia and its affiliate sites indicates your acceptance of the Jupitermedia legal notice, privacy policy, those terms found on the registration page and in this Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP").

JPnyc

It's a moot point because no personal info is viewable by a non-member of the forum, and because it states in the AUP that whatever is posted to the forum, Jupitermedia is granted permanent exclusive legal rights to display, however not to do anything ELSE with it. In other words, we don't give or sell it to others. Not even one's email is accessible to other forum members, and to non-members the profiles are not viewable at all.

scrupul0us

i think out of all forums for one to be concerned about, a programming forum should be the least of your concerns

and it sounds like your bound by jupitermedia...

just go into your profile and blank everything out if you are really concerned...

"what touches the web sticks to it" - me