When you get a thread deleted...

[CrochetBelle]

... does it actually get deleted?

A post by one of your admin suggests it instead gets hidden from view. What would a poster have to do/say to actually have it deleted? And if only hidden, why aren't you more transparent about that?

Hiya @JenMNHQ you emailed me two hours after I posted this to say you were taking a look at this post.

Did you get lost? Surely it's a straight forward answer, not one that needs discussed or anything?

Crochet, I suspect that Jen might have been working a weekend shift?

MNHQ doesn't have much cover overnight and especially at weekends, apart from maybe one MNHQer and the volunteer 'nightwatchers'.

Perhaps Jen acknowledged to you by email; but she might need some guidance from someone higher up who she might only be able to refer to during Mon-Fri working hours?

I would think the posts are archived rather than deleted so that tech can easily spot previously banned posters by checking post style etc

I have a screenshot where Michael says a thread is hidden, not deleted.

It concerns me from the data protection point of view - if I ask for a thread to be deleted, then it should be deleted, similar my posts. I don't think hiding is quite the same thing.

It concerns me from the data protection point of view - if I ask for a thread to be deleted, then it should be deleted, similar my posts. I don't think hiding is quite the same thing.

This.
All very well if they are hiding threads, it probably makes more sense. But if someone is expecting their thread is deleted, and being told it's deleted, why not be honest about it?

All I'm asking for is clarification, and Jen said she was dealing with my question yesterday. A delay is fine, but taking the ten seconds to follow that up would have been easy to do.

I'll find and post the screen shot when I charge my ipad later.

We had the same idea duckfuck

Even if it’s deleted, it’s findable on the internet. Once you’ve posted, it’s out there somewhere.

This ^

Yes but under gdpr delete means delete from their servers it doesn’t mean hide.

Oo point of decency, I expect if I ask for a thread to be deleted because I’ve been outed, I expect it to be deleted and not left so that an intern with a grudge can find it again later, for eg.

I thought there was hiding and deleting was a sepotging

*separate thing

Obviously trails still exist on the internet despite deleting something, but when MNHQ claim to delete something it should, to the best ability, be deleted - not just put in a seperate area to be played with by any member of staff who takes a fancy.

Why not be more transparent? Why not say it's hidden from view?

So I'll ask again... How does a user go about having something actually deleted? I believe under GPDR this is something that must be available?

And the lack of response to this, despite an email from a member of staff and at least two 'reports is extremely rude.

If it is not deleted, this does not comply with GDPR

Still no response. Have emailed. Again.

I'm not so much of a ditzy bored housewife that I'll forget about this

If you are that worried about a thread existing on a server somewhere, just don't post in the first place! Unless a thread has been made about you, then you might want to keep a proof to complain about whoever started it.

Posters use other social media to copy and comment on full MN threads anyway, why does it matter that much if they are still on MN or not.

I wonder if it really makes any difference if it's deleted or hidden from general view, when there's some people actively stashing deleted threads somewhere else.
I'd agree, if you are worried, don't post anything you want to get deleted in the first place. You need to come to terms with the fact that once you posted, it's there somewhere on the web, like it or not.

I'm not worried, I totally understand how it works.

I'm questioning the law, though. Under GDPR, people have the right to be 'forgotten'. If someone asking for their thread to be removed, had it granted, they would assume it had been removed. The slipup from MichaelMNHQ suggests these threads aren't deleted at all, just hidden from general view. I'm pretty sure this goes against GDPR rules. So, as I've been asking for the past three days, what would a user have to do/say in order to have MN comply with GDPR law. And why does Mumsnet say they have deleted content which they haven't? Transparency is all that's needed.

Here's your morning reminder @JenMNHQ

But the screenshot could means it was hidden for the time being, then deleted later?
It doesn't say what happens in the end.

You'd think that'd be easy for MNHQ to clarify then.

Hi there Crochetbelle and apologies for the delay - it sounds as though you have a couple of different points here and I'll try to address them both.

We have the ability to hide/suspend a thread while we look behind the scenes here - that's what happened on the thread that you've screenshotted. If we decide that the thread isn't one we want to host on Mumsnet because it breaks our Talk Guidelines, we delete it.

'Deleted' refers to the fact that it no longer exists as a Mumsnet thread, to be viewed or commented on - but as a pp suggested, MNHQ can still see the posts and we use them to help us make moderation decisions at a later date. This isn't something that we've tried to be opaque about - it's pretty common parlance to use the word 'deleted' in this context.

Very rarely, we delete a thread at a Mumsnet user's request, when she believes she has outed herself. In this situation the user is worried about the content of the whole thread causing fallout for her in RL, so removing it from view solves her problem. As I said, we don't often to this, and we regularly remind users to that Mumsnet is a public forum, accessible to anyone, and to be careful not to give away too much information if they're at all concerned about being identified in real life.

If you've got concerns about your personal data, that's a slightly different problem with a different solution. We've tried to make it as easy as possible to delete your data on your 'My Account' page. When you do this, all personally identifying information is removed from all our systems. Your post remains on the site, but it's totally anonymised because it has been completely detached from any of your data.

We hope this clears things up and thanks for your question.

Best

MNHQ

But if I ask for a thread to be deleted because it identified me in RL it is by the fact I've been identified personal data and thus if I ask for it to be deleted it signs be deleted properly deleted as per gdpr not just hidden

So when you advise and assure a poster you have deleted their thread/post, it's still on your system, just hidden from public view? Is that okay under GDPR? And why have MN never been more transparent about that? Why call it 'deleting'?

And since you're here - any reason why it took so long to respond to numerous reports and emails on this issue?

Under GDPR people can ask for things to be deleted. That means totally deleted, not just hidden. They do not need to give a reason. It sounds as if you are not GDPR compliant.