

Ask HN: Why can't we delete our accounts or remove old posts? - Mandatum

JustDelete.Me lists the account removal process as impossible and I have found no mention of it on News.YC, and it seems after a certain amount of time the ability to edit or delete old posts is also disabled.
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Thorondor
Jacquesm's Unofficial FAQ (from 2011) also says it's impossible.
[http://jacquesmattheij.com/the-unofficial-hn-
faq#deleteaccou...](http://jacquesmattheij.com/the-unofficial-hn-
faq#deleteaccount) I think this is the right policy; it encourages people not
to post things they'll regret later. As jacquesm points out, you can always
just remove all identifying information from your profile and start a new
account if you really don't want to be associated with your past
links/comments.

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Fjolsvith
I've been able to delete comments I've regretted.

~~~
ggchappell
Editing and deleting an HN comment can be done within a limited time (an
hour?) after the comment is created. After that it does not seem to be
possible -- at least for me.

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NeutronBoy
I'm against deleting old posts. You only have to look through some threads on
Reddit to see how disrupting it can be to delete random posts in a comment
thread.

Deleting accounts would be ok, if it leaves the comment trail intact.

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Karunamon
Allowing deletions on a discussion board is a bad idea. A dissatisfied person
should not be able to trash context and history and public conversations going
back years in some misguided attempt to reclaim privacy that never existed in
the first place.

This sounds harsh but I've been in one too many old forum posts that were
rendered incomprehensible due to some selfish person. Think before you post
and it'll never be a problem.

~~~
gull
> _in some misguided attempt to reclaim privacy that never existed in the
> first place_

From the Guidelines: _" Don't say things you wouldn't say in a face-to-face
conversation."_

With a face-to-face conversation you have better privacy after the
conversation is over than you do on HN. I would prefer a forum that offers
this privacy. I'm ready to join one.

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mtmail
You're right: both Guidelines and FAQ still don't mention account deletion.
Last I know it's not possible, at least not in the user interface.

Discussed in length in
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9089177](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9089177)

Best option is to email admins at hn@ycombinator.com

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jseeff
On a slightly related albeit not quite exactly the same type of note: can
usernames be changed? I see a very large number of non-name related usernames
and am curious as to why that is and if they can be changed to a real name or
away from one....?

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stephengillie
I am very interested in changing my HN name to align with the rest of my
internet identity. But I do not want to lose what few internet points I have
accumulated here.

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gull
What I think I want to have deleted after a period of time is the connection
between username and comment. I may still want to see the comment, but I don't
want it connected with my username.

Like conversations in real life. It's one of the advantages of forgetting who
you heard something from.

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brudgers
Try the contact link at the bottom of the page. Reasonable reasons may fall on
reasonable ears. Raising a fuss for fuss raising's sake may not, however, get
you anywhere.

Good luck.

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philtar
Wow the hypocrisy is unbelievable. Any other website would have been chided,
chewed and spit out by the community if they didn't let you delete your posts
(even if they are just hiding them). But because HN is doing it it's suddenly
OK? 4 out 5 comments at the time I wrote this _support_ the inability to
delete an account.

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SamReidHughes
> Any other website would have been chided, chewed and spit out by the
> community if they didn't let you delete your posts

I don't believe this. I've never seen criticisms of other forums for this. Why
do you believe this?

~~~
philtar
So if suddenly facebook didn't let you delete your posts that would be ok?

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SamReidHughes
> So if suddenly facebook didn't let you delete your posts that would be ok?

This question has, and my answer to this question would have, absolutely
nothing to do with my response or your previous post, which are about what
Hacker News commenters would say about other websites.

Nor would what they (or I) think about one particular website tell us what
they (or I) think about "any other website." And if you were to pick a
specific one as an example, a more appropriate choice would be another
discussion forum, not a social network.

