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Ask HN: Can you delete a HN Account?

7 points by OhMeadhbh 3y ago

Hmm... housemate just got permabanned by HN for too many snarky comments. Just noticed there's no obvious interface to delete your HN account. Anyone know if that's possible?

uberman 3y ago
See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30430789 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30430789
mtmail 3y ago
It's covered in the FAQ https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html
- OhMeadhbh 3y ago
  Sure enough. It's right there. Completely missed it. Thx!
- nicbou 3y ago
  > We try not to delete entire account histories because that would gut the threads the account had participated in. However, we care about protecting individual users and take care of privacy requests every day, so if we can help, please email hn@ycombinator.com. We don't want anyone to get in trouble from anything they posted to HN. More here. That's reasonable but still a complete disregard for GDPR's right to be forgotten.
  - switch007 3y ago
    Just like I’m not bound by the laws in the US as I don’t live there nor have the rights under their constitution, Y Combinator does not have a legal entity AFAIK in a country with GDPR legislation, so they’re not bound by it. I’m not sure why EU citizens feel their laws apply to a US owned and operated website, because I’m quite sure most would not want eg US law to apply in the EU (I am European fwiw) GDPR rights descend from EU law. Google, Facebook etc were in the GDPR spotlight because they have entities in the EU. Not because EU law suddenly applied to US only entities
    - nicbou 3y ago
      Hey I'm still using the website. I just appreciate the spirit of the right to be forgotten so I advocate for it.
    - JanSt 3y ago
      As long as YCombinator allow users from Europe, they have to adhere to the rules. It does not matter whether there is a local entity or not, they serve European users. If a European company provides a service to US users, they have to adhere to US law too. https://gdpr.eu/companies-outside-of-europe/ https://gdpr.eu/companies-outside-of-europe/
      - switch007 3y ago
        Sounds nice on paper. What action will the EU take against them, and how? Do you know of any cases where they’ve taken action against companies such as YC? And do you believe in other countries enforcing their laws way beyond their borders? I’m not against GDPR, I’m against other countries enforcing their laws in my country.
KomoD 3y ago
Does he want to delete his, or you yours?

7 points by OhMeadhbh 3y ago

Hmm... housemate just got permabanned by HN for too many snarky comments. Just noticed there's no obvious interface to delete your HN account. Anyone know if that's possible?

uberman 3y ago

See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30430789 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30430789

mtmail 3y ago

It's covered in the FAQ https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html

OhMeadhbh 3y ago
Sure enough. It's right there. Completely missed it. Thx!
nicbou 3y ago
> We try not to delete entire account histories because that would gut the threads the account had participated in. However, we care about protecting individual users and take care of privacy requests every day, so if we can help, please email hn@ycombinator.com. We don't want anyone to get in trouble from anything they posted to HN. More here. That's reasonable but still a complete disregard for GDPR's right to be forgotten.
- switch007 3y ago
  Just like I’m not bound by the laws in the US as I don’t live there nor have the rights under their constitution, Y Combinator does not have a legal entity AFAIK in a country with GDPR legislation, so they’re not bound by it. I’m not sure why EU citizens feel their laws apply to a US owned and operated website, because I’m quite sure most would not want eg US law to apply in the EU (I am European fwiw) GDPR rights descend from EU law. Google, Facebook etc were in the GDPR spotlight because they have entities in the EU. Not because EU law suddenly applied to US only entities
  - nicbou 3y ago
    Hey I'm still using the website. I just appreciate the spirit of the right to be forgotten so I advocate for it.
  - JanSt 3y ago
    As long as YCombinator allow users from Europe, they have to adhere to the rules. It does not matter whether there is a local entity or not, they serve European users. If a European company provides a service to US users, they have to adhere to US law too. https://gdpr.eu/companies-outside-of-europe/ https://gdpr.eu/companies-outside-of-europe/
    - switch007 3y ago
      Sounds nice on paper. What action will the EU take against them, and how? Do you know of any cases where they’ve taken action against companies such as YC? And do you believe in other countries enforcing their laws way beyond their borders? I’m not against GDPR, I’m against other countries enforcing their laws in my country.

KomoD 3y ago

Does he want to delete his, or you yours?