On the abuse of account deletion, a proposal for a solution

It has come to my attention that TV Tropes no longer allows users to delete their accounts, on the grounds that such a tool was previously used by bad actors to evade bans. Whilst I can get behind a measure against this problem, I consider this carpet-ban ill-advised, overzealous, and more harmful to the Tropes community than to the people it's supposed to keep out.

So rather than go off on a rant cussing up the place, I thought I'd try and be productive about it and instead offer a suggestion and a rational argument for why my proposal would work better than the existing system.

I don't pretend to understand the methods behind account banning, but it seems logical to me to have a system where if an account is banned, then it should follow that the IP addresses that have been used recently would also be banned, and furthermore that said ban would hold even if said account is deleted, for whatever duration was previously set. Whilst it's true that multiple people might use the same IP, my reasoning is that if these bad actors are able to get around IP bans by switching to a different IP then so are most other people. Besides, if they have accounts and they've done nothing wrong then they're not going to be banned are they?

However, on the assumption that this proposal is unworkable for whatever reason, I have a second, much simpler suggestion - let us ask. Give users the ability to send an account deletion request, either via message to moderators/administrators or by clicking a button on their account settings. Simple enough, isn't it? The user submits a request, the mods check to see if the user's flagged up as naughty or nice and make their decision on a case-by-case basis, entirely based upon individual merit, thus solving this dilemma for existing users who are unfairly entrapped by this new rule whilst simultaneously giving the mods a more proactive role in safeguarding, community and support.

I can't honestly think of any good reason for rejecting such a simple idea when it's in the best interest of everyone involved, but as an eternal pessimist with zero faith in humanity I'm expecting that not only that will happen but the entire thread will be deleted unread and my account suspended from making any further edits, and for this reason I've made sure to extensively back up this thread in the event that this transpires.

1. We lack the technical capability to delete accounts.
2. Even if an account no longer exists in our database, all history associated with it: wiki edits, forum posts, reviews, etc. would necessarily remain.
3. We retain records of all actions taken on or by an account and all IP addresses used by that account in order to adjudicate ban evasion or other similar issues.

This is simply not a request that we are able to fulfill, although we are looking into potential options.

Oh...

4. Don't be so dramatic.

Edited by Fighteer on Aug 2nd 2020 at 3:01:40 PM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

1) There used to be such a feature on the site from what I've seen, and that being the case I don't see what could prevent it from being re-implemented. Any code updates in the interim can't have been that incompatible if you're as ill-equipped as you suggest.

2) I'm not suggesting otherwise. Plenty of other sites do the same that have account deletion functions available.

3) Okay, good.

4) Just taking precautions.

Edited by CharlieHadron on Aug 2nd 2020 at 9:16:11 AM

What does "account deletion" entail here? There are several different things it could mean.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

I don't see what's ambiguous about it, but to be clear I'm referring to the ability for users to request that their account be closed from further use, all personal or identifying details deleted and any public posts or changes made either anonymised or else some other alternative method of making it so the account in question is no longer visible, such as replacing the username with "deleted user #somanynumbers".

Edited by CharlieHadron on Aug 2nd 2020 at 9:44:37 AM

We have not had this capability that I've ever known about, and I've been here a long time. It is simply not a thing that has been developed. Our system uses plain text to associate accounts with posts, edits, and the like, and a global search and replace would be needed to erase that identity, requiring significant database resources.

This is on our development radar but there is zero chance of it being implemented soon, for any reasonable definition of that term.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Not going to lie,when I see someone with little activity besides posting a thread about deleting accounts permanently I get..suspicious,or at least wonder why they're so concerned with deleting accounts

New theme music also a box

What's suspicious about wanting to delete accounts, especially old and unused web accounts? I've been cleaning house and having as many of my old accounts as I can find. So far the only places I've had any trouble with that are on Dailymotion, Change.org, and here. I live in the European Economic Area, and as such under EU law I am entitled to make a Right to Erasure Privacy Law request Right to Erasure Privacy Law request. I'm not a criminal and asking to have accounts removed doesn't make me one. If you can attribute a single malicious act towards this site or any other towards me and you consider that justification to disregard my entirely legitimate concern not just for myself but for anybody else who wants out... well, I think there's something wrong there because for one I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything like that, and for another whether I've done something wrong or not (which is what you seem to be implying) how is the actions of one person or a small group of people justification to disregard the rights and the wishes of other people?

I live in an apartment. I have tomatoes in the refrigerator. I have a right to eat my tomatoes. None of this has anything to do with what you're asking for.

Link to TRS threads in project mode here.

Your TVT account should be pretty much anonymous. It shouldn't be attached to your real life. Therefore, it's not a matter of privacy- it's just a username you once did things with. The only real benefit I can see to deleting accounts might be to save us some server space- but even then, it'd be a tiny change.

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

Yeah, I guess there's nothing else productive can be done here.