Deletion requests
What to do when a member asks you to delete their data, what deleting actually removes, and the difference between removing and deleting.
- privacy
- gdpr
- members
Removing a member and deleting their data are different things, and people asking for one often mean the other. Establish which before you do anything, because one of them cannot be undone.
Removing
Ends their access and their subscription at the end of the paid period. Their record and their posts stay, attributed to a former member. This is what you want for somebody who is leaving.
Deleting
A member deletes their own account, from the danger zone on their account page. That is the right route: the request is theirs to make and theirs to confirm, and it removes their personal data rather than just their access. Point them at it rather than doing something approximate on their behalf.
Your own obligations
You are the one holding your members' data, so the answer to what am I legally required to do depends on where you and they are. Publish your own privacy policy from the legal section of Customize, and get somebody qualified to read it.
Common questions
Can I delete a member's account for them?
The account deletion control belongs to the account holder. What you can do is remove them and delete them from your contacts.
What happens to their posts?
Conversations stay readable, attributed to a former member, so the threads other people took part in do not fall apart.
What about somebody who was only ever a contact?
Delete them from your audiences. That removes the record you hold.