3 ms·

Soft deletes. This is always the case. Not just at Facebook, it is just standard practice across tech co’s.

by rco8786 6y ago

umanwizard 6y ago
Do you have a source?
- JumpCrisscross 6y ago
  > Do you have a source? OP asked respondents to weigh in anonymously. That’s a call for anecdotes.
- kevincox 6y ago
  Soft deletes are generally a good idea. Being to recover data for some time is very useful. Ideally this is also exposed to users. However respectable companies will keep this time-limited. For example Google has very strict deadlines on all of their deleted data wiping. Their privacy policy is quite vague but gives some examples: https://policies.google.com/technologies/retention https://policies.google.com/technologies/retention
- bryanrasmussen 6y ago
  I have seen this come up periodically, and it seems to be the case that for various reasons soft deletes are the way it is actually done. here is one not particularly recent discussion https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=954393 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=954393 Now that I think of it I would probably have done soft delete if I got around to automating deleting accounts at my old startup for lots of reasons. on edit: another more recent article https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23005060 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23005060
- rco8786 6y ago
  10 years in the industry I guess, and the article linked
londons_explore 6y ago
Google takes deletes seriously. Extreme efforts go into deleting stuff within 30 days of the user requesting deletion. Imagine how hard that is when a datacenter is switched off for 14 days for maintenance, and then a fire breaks out and takes it offline for a further 20 days... When something is powered off, it's very hard to do those deletions... Yet misses of the deadline are exceedingly rare, even in cases like the above. Sometimes disks are crushed in a crusher to meet the deadline if software approaches to deletion can't be done in time.
- jacquesm 6y ago
  Excellent. Thank you for posting this. If anybody I would expect Google to take this serious, they have the eye of Sauron on them continuously and can not afford to trip up.
- rco8786 6y ago
  .
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - londons_explore 6y ago
    > But clicking delete or unsend on a photo is not that. In Google, a user clicking delete is treated exactly the same as a written deletion request. In fact, the law requires that they be the same - "Therefore, an individual can make a request for erasure verbally or in writing. It can also be made to any part of your organisation and does not have to be to a specific person or contact point.". (https://ico.org.uk/ https://ico.org.uk/)
  - jacquesm 6y ago
    Sorry, but no. That is a deletion request. The GDPR tells you exactly what to do once such a request is made. There is no such thing as a 'specific GDPR deletion request'.
    - 6y ago

Soft deletes. This is always the case. Not just at Facebook, it is just standard practice across tech co’s.

umanwizard 6y ago

Do you have a source?

JumpCrisscross 6y ago
> Do you have a source? OP asked respondents to weigh in anonymously. That’s a call for anecdotes.
kevincox 6y ago
Soft deletes are generally a good idea. Being to recover data for some time is very useful. Ideally this is also exposed to users. However respectable companies will keep this time-limited. For example Google has very strict deadlines on all of their deleted data wiping. Their privacy policy is quite vague but gives some examples: https://policies.google.com/technologies/retention https://policies.google.com/technologies/retention
bryanrasmussen 6y ago
I have seen this come up periodically, and it seems to be the case that for various reasons soft deletes are the way it is actually done. here is one not particularly recent discussion https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=954393 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=954393 Now that I think of it I would probably have done soft delete if I got around to automating deleting accounts at my old startup for lots of reasons. on edit: another more recent article https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23005060 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23005060
rco8786 6y ago
10 years in the industry I guess, and the article linked

londons_explore 6y ago

Google takes deletes seriously. Extreme efforts go into deleting stuff within 30 days of the user requesting deletion. Imagine how hard that is when a datacenter is switched off for 14 days for maintenance, and then a fire breaks out and takes it offline for a further 20 days... When something is powered off, it's very hard to do those deletions... Yet misses of the deadline are exceedingly rare, even in cases like the above. Sometimes disks are crushed in a crusher to meet the deadline if software approaches to deletion can't be done in time.

jacquesm 6y ago
Excellent. Thank you for posting this. If anybody I would expect Google to take this serious, they have the eye of Sauron on them continuously and can not afford to trip up.
rco8786 6y ago
.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- londons_explore 6y ago
  > But clicking delete or unsend on a photo is not that. In Google, a user clicking delete is treated exactly the same as a written deletion request. In fact, the law requires that they be the same - "Therefore, an individual can make a request for erasure verbally or in writing. It can also be made to any part of your organisation and does not have to be to a specific person or contact point.". (https://ico.org.uk/ https://ico.org.uk/)
- jacquesm 6y ago
  Sorry, but no. That is a deletion request. The GDPR tells you exactly what to do once such a request is made. There is no such thing as a 'specific GDPR deletion request'.
  - 6y ago