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When you get a thread deleted...

2 replies

CrochetBelle · 14/07/2018 18:31

... 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?

KateMumsnet · 17/07/2018 11:08

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

KateMumsnet · 17/07/2018 13:19

@crunchymint

Under GDPR people can ask for things to be deleted.

Crunchymint, you're absolutely right that users can delete their personally identifying data - they can do so by deleting their account on their 'My Account' page, and their personally identifying information will then be completely removed from our systems, as GDPR requires.

The content of posts falls into a different category though. As I said, we do remove posts/ threads to be helpful when people hadn't thought things through before posting, and we're always happy to take a look at any posts which a poster worries is identifying to other posters.

If they have broader concerns, though, and wish their details to be permanently deleted from the site, inaccessible to anyone including MNHQ, the way to do that is by deleting their account.

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