[HN Gopher] Own Your Data
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Own Your Data
Author : sysadm1n
Score : 77 points
Date : 2023-01-12 18:57 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (yourdigitalrights.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (yourdigitalrights.org)
| extr0pian wrote:
| Over the past couple of months I've been in the process of
| deleting some dormant accounts. I've had the most issues
| specifically with airlines. It's been a bit of a challenge
| interacting with the company's customer support and/or digging
| through their privacy policies to find an email address to
| contact.
|
| I stumbled across this website a couple of times but opted not to
| use it, because it felt odd plugging in some personal info into a
| website I'd never heard of - much like those services that claim
| to remove you from people-search websites. However, I only now
| realize that this website/service actually generates an email on
| my behalf that includes the appropriate company email address and
| relevant messaging.
|
| I really wish websites like these weren't necessary at all. I
| should be able to delete an account (along with personal and
| financial details) just as easily as I create one.
| Bilal_io wrote:
| My credit card company offers a similar service for free,
| they'd monitor my information online and then submit an opt-out
| request on my behalf.
|
| I don't use the service, but it's because of how opt-out
| requests work, I'd have to give an online website information
| about me that they may not have in order to delete the info
| they have, it sounds counterproductive and assumes they won't
| see the other info, or publish it a different way.
| gigel82 wrote:
| I've been doing the same after the LastPass incident (I haven't
| used it in a couple of years, but for old accounts I didn't do
| a good job of updating passwords).
|
| I agree it's surprising how many companies don't allow account
| deletion online; it's also surprising how many privacy policies
| link to dead URLs or email addresses (that literally bounce) if
| they even mention a "request to delete" at all. Plus many
| others that use the stupid bots for customer support or a form
| with a dropdown that doesn't include anything about privacy /
| account, just product support.
|
| But totally don't use any of these websites, they are very
| likely collecting and disseminating your data themselves.
| extr0pian wrote:
| > it's also surprising how many privacy policies link to dead
| URLs or email addresses
|
| Agreed, many privacy policies I've come across are crap and
| seem like it was copy/pasted from elsewhere. I just recently
| tried to delete an account last week, and the email address
| in their privacy policy was literally
| "support@[company]1234.test".
| arcanemachiner wrote:
| Name and shame.
| username3 wrote:
| How do you delete your data if a service bans your account and
| locks you out of the account?
| j_san wrote:
| Under GDPR they'll still have to comply.
|
| If they have a data protection officer then send him an email.
| Else if you're in the EU get the Data Protection Authority
| (DPA) of your country in the loop.
| beesnotincluded wrote:
| Eugh. Yet more hassle to deal with as someone trying to build
| apps and deliver functionality. People should stop running to
| mommy to get their data deleted and just not share it in the
| first place. The internet was better before this kind of
| regulation and right to be forgotten. This sort of bureaucracy is
| just a drain on the productive members of society.
| extr0pian wrote:
| > People should stop running to mommy to get their data deleted
| and just not share it in the first place.
|
| Agreed that people should not just hand over personal data,
| however humans make mistakes and may later that it was a
| decision that they only now realize was not in their best
| interest. People open accounts/share personal data when they
| have to for work/business and then no longer work for that
| company, or they _think_ they have to, or they have been
| coerced /tricked via dark patterns.
|
| I've been deleting accounts and requesting my personal data be
| purged from accounts I created 5 to 10+ years ago - before I
| was aware of good digital hygiene and that these accounts have
| information that can later become a liability (whether it's
| personal/financial data that's been hacked, or the company
| sells my data to 3rd parties/marketers, or the company is
| bought out by another company with different privacy polices).
| josephg wrote:
| A lot of companies don't give you a lot of choices. Want a
| credit card? We need to verify your identity. Oops, we sold
| that data to 3rd parties. And they sold it to spammers. If you
| store my personal data and then have a data breach due to gross
| negligence, who suffers? I do. Can I sue? Probably not.
|
| I don't want people passing around my data at all. It's mine.
| And passing it around is creepy. "Just never fill in my data in
| a web form" is a grossly insufficient answer - I'd need to opt
| out of the entire modern economy.
|
| There's an easy way for companies to comply with these
| requests: just don't store people's data in the first place. If
| you need to store my data, I want your site to be secure. And I
| want consent. And I want to be able to opt out.
|
| > drain on the productive members of society
|
| Most of these rules target ad companies, and I contest the
| "productive" part. They can all jump in a lake.
| scohesc wrote:
| I guess there's the concern for analytics/data harvesting - but
| it would be nice to see # of requests for data deletion are, even
| filterable by country - see who the top offenders are which would
| make it a bit easier to see who the privacy-concerned are the
| most concerned about.
| trasz3 wrote:
| [dead]
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(page generated 2023-01-12 23:01 UTC)