OC Updated: Reddit is quietly restoring deleted AND overwritten posts and comments

Another update and possibly a solution for some case where posts were not properly deleted. Seems I jumped the gun on this and the restores haven't been intentional - at least not in this particular case.

There is a limitation in the popular Powerdelete that apparently prevents mass editing. Here is a link to a new version with a build-in delay and some other alternatives:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/145fico/comment/jnl4xmr/

There are other reported cases where manually deleted post reappeared or other scripts have been used, so this doesn't solve all issues but explains how posts that were both edited and deleted withPowerdelete weren't properly deleted and reappeared after subs went back live.

Update: As some have pointed out: the restores can be rollbacks from the server issues or post haven't been properly deleted due to subs being private during blackouts. Many have experienced the same issue, I can't explain how this happens. I'll just run the script again, try the GDPR request and delete my account.

Also worth noting: according to the ToS Reddit can actually do whatever they want with existing content, apparently we agreed to this when signing up.

NorthernLightMountain,
NorthernLightMountain avatar

What the actual fuck?

This really is getting worse by the minute..

itsonlybrad,

@chri5 @Rairii jerk move. Can confirm a smattering of my edited and removed comments have been restored as well as removed submissions.

ciechom,

Wow, that's really shitty on Reddit's part.

LChitman,
LChitman avatar

Would this actually be a GDPR breach? I was thinking about the right to erasure/to be forgotten earlier in relation to a post I saw about how your posts aren't deleted on other federated instances, if you delete them on your home server. But I figured it wasn't applicable because it's not personal data and I'm thinking the same about this Reddit issue. Can anyone set me straight?

abff08f4813c,
abff08f4813c avatar

Well, people have reported Twitter for failing to remove their tweets and places like the ICO are now actively investigating Twitter over this failure, see https://www.wired.co.uk/article/delete-twitter-dms-gdpr

Someone posted not too long ago that a person who was part of Twitter’s group over the GDPR - pre Musk - said the lawyers came to the conclusion that tweets were protected under the GDPR.

LChitman,
LChitman avatar

Thanks, that's a good point and sets a precedent. I had a reply in another thread with the definition of personal data from GDPR and it would seem to include social media posts:

'personal data' means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person;

https://kbin.social/m/reddit@lemmy.ml/t/34167/Reddit-is-restoring-deleted-posts#entry-comment-141186

thek3nger,

Holy damn. I deleted all my comments and my account ~a week ago. I don't even know how to check if they restored something. 😠

khab,
khab avatar

Check a thread you know you wrote something in?

50gp,

looks like my comments deleted before blackout started are still deleted, so did they restore only more recent deletions?

chri5,
chri5 avatar

Possibly, but several people reported some old post have been restored as well, some deleted a long time ago.

matzah,
@matzah@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

So, so, so glad I deleted my entire account. This is so unethical.

CynAq,
CynAq avatar

I'm sorry to say this but, they probably restored all of your posts too. It will just say "deleted" as your username but the posts and comments will be in their old place.

effingjoe,
effingjoe avatar

As I understand it (and I may not!) deleting your account leaves all your comments in place, but without your username.

chri5,
chri5 avatar

That should be the policy but Reddit states it can take up to 90 days to disconnect content from a user profile and personally - I wouldn't bet on it if it seems they are doing this manually (why else would this take 90 days?).

fear,
fear avatar

It makes me wonder if they would restore wiped comments from accounts that have been deleted?

megane_kun,
@megane_kun@lemmy.world avatar

That's awful. I wonder if there's a way to automate deleting all of our posts and replies—and repeatedly run it on a schedule via a cron job or something, maybe once an hour or something. And let it run until their API becomes locked down.

Trebach,

And then replace it with a Selenium script afterwards.

megane_kun,
@megane_kun@lemmy.world avatar

If only I know enough about programming to do it.

Right now, I'm looking at an option that I can run via command line here which I can add to my cron job queue.

Kwik,

@megane_kun I was thinking something very similar. I'm sure there are keywords they're looking for too, like "third party apps" and "fuck /u/spez" which trigger the restore.

megane_kun,
@megane_kun@lemmy.world avatar

Probably, though from what I've seen in the linked thread, there's no such keywords present.

What I suspect is that Reddit admins saw a rise in deletions, and put two and two together and thought it's part of the protest. They're not wrong, but still a dick move.

mccord,
mccord avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    megane_kun,
    @megane_kun@lemmy.world avatar

    Thank you!! I was trying to remember Shreddit but all I managed to remember is that it needed to be installed in one's system.

    chri5,
    chri5 avatar

    That's not a bad idea actually. The Powerdelete script I used is based on Javascript and needs to be started manually in the browser window, I'll just run the script once a day. But maybe someone with more knowledge can come up with a more automated solution. They can't restore user accounts forever.

    Soyaro,

    erm... just put the triggering function in a for-loop, together with some conditions so it doesn't run all the time...?

    megane_kun,
    @megane_kun@lemmy.world avatar

    I am also going to use the power delete script too, but I was still looking for a way to archive my stuff before nuking them.

    I remember seeing some solutions that require an installation of a program which the user then runs on their machine.

    PS: @mccord Has the solution I was trying to remember. It's Shreddit.

    HeartyBeast,
    HeartyBeast avatar

    Perhaps delete and replace the comment with text that explicitly claims copyright on the deleted message and denies Reddit a license to use the deleted content? It would be good to get a legal eagle willing to look at the Reddit user agreement and content licensing and see if there is a legally literate way of denying them use deleted content once it has been submitted.

    Trebach,

    If you're in the EU, submit a request to have it purged. If they refuse, that's a violation of the GDPR.

    flybynightpotato,

    Under the law, they also HAVE to respond to all requests within a month, regardless of whether they intend to comply. So it seems like it would be possible to completely overwhelm them with GDPR erasure requests and let them panic.

    db0,
    @db0@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

    Warning, someone on reddit mentioned this is a known bug of the application used

    TheFriendless,

    Has anyone tried phoning a GDPR focused lawyer firm? I just did a google and they offer a "free consultation" I would like to get the facts 100% before raising my pitchfork.

    ajar7,
    ajar7 avatar

    Noyb.eu is the nonprofit you are looking for.

    millions,
    millions avatar

    GDPR laws take the wheel

    crazyminner,

    Just wait a bit then delete your data. They can't keep an eye on it forever.

    jugalator, (edited )

    If this is not a bug, it's pretty wild. I don't think this is even compliant to GDPR as for European users unless there is legal obligation or for archiving scientific progress etc. I have a hard time seeing protection for Reddit here as it's just a social news site, there's no way around that. It's not a bundle of research papers and the police hasn't come knocking on their door asking them to recover content.

    See The right to erasure (Article 17 & 19).

    lackthought,
    @lackthought@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

    wow I just checked and all my deleted comments are restored (used the power delete suite)

    jokes on them, I’m petty enough to sit here and manually delete everything

    freebrick,
    freebrick avatar

    Do you really think there is a difference between deletion through api or manual? In both cases they don't really delete the content.

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