LandTrekker Posted June 10, 2023 Share Posted June 10, 2023 I was recently browsing through documentation on deleting accounts as I was curious how they work (not because I want to delete my account). I do have some questions on how it works. I understand that after a user deletes their account, their account is put in a state that allows them to contact support to restore it, but the longer they leave it, the harder it can be to restore, and there is no guarantee that the account will be able to be restored in full. Web profiles immediately start showing a "This name is unavailable" message. Usernames for deleted users are also never freed. What I am curious about is if the web profile will always show a "This name is unavailable" message, or if it will show the "The page you were looking for doesn't exist" 404 message after some time. I have not been able to find any information on this. I would assume that eventually any traces of the profile and its username would disappear from public view but I'm not sure on this. I would hope deleting your account would remove all "personal information" including usernames. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belindacarson Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 You'd be better off asking LL support about this, all you'll get on here is answers that contradict each other. Depending on your RL location, try filing a support ticket under GDPR and ask how your data would be handled afterwards. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love Zhaoying Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 37 minutes ago, belindacarson said: all you'll get on here is answers that contradict each other. No they won't!! Wait.. (Is joke) 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marigold Devin Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 17 hours ago, LandTrekker said: I was recently browsing through documentation on deleting accounts as I was curious how they work (not because I want to delete my account). I do have some questions on how it works. I understand that after a user deletes their account, their account is put in a state that allows them to contact support to restore it, but the longer they leave it, the harder it can be to restore, and there is no guarantee that the account will be able to be restored in full. Web profiles immediately start showing a "This name is unavailable" message. Usernames for deleted users are also never freed. What I am curious about is if the web profile will always show a "This name is unavailable" message, or if it will show the "The page you were looking for doesn't exist" 404 message after some time. I have not been able to find any information on this. I would assume that eventually any traces of the profile and its username would disappear from public view but I'm not sure on this. I would hope deleting your account would remove all "personal information" including usernames. Only Linden Lab employees know the actual full process, but I know that even when an account is deleted, it is still visible over on the Agni test grid, and of course doing a Google search will still bring up all the historical content for this avatar. It does mean, however, that every user name is unique, unlike in real life where there are billions (probably) of people called John Smith. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandTrekker Posted June 11, 2023 Author Share Posted June 11, 2023 Thank you everyone. I will ask LL support and see what they say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claireschen Hesten Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 (edited) On 6/10/2023 at 9:35 PM, LandTrekker said: What I am curious about is if the web profile will always show a "This name is unavailable" message, or if it will show the "The page you were looking for doesn't exist" 404 message after some time. I have a friend who deleted their account some years ago over 5 I think, my last documented interaction shows as “over 7 years ago” on my feed. To this day their web profile shows “This name is unavailable" inworld still being on my friend list their non Web profile is like they've never left Edit: should add I only discovered their account was deleted when I looked at the web profile. The old web tab on profiles now called feed where web profiles used to show up showed unavailable too Edited June 11, 2023 by Claireschen Hesten Add info 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowan Amore Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 2 hours ago, Claireschen Hesten said: I have a friend who deleted their account some years ago over 5 I think, my last documented interaction shows as “over 7 years ago” on my feed. To this day their web profile shows “This name is unavailable" inworld still being on my friend list their non Web profile is like they've never left Does there calling card still show their profile? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claireschen Hesten Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 2 hours ago, Rowan Amore said: Does there calling card still show their profile? If I bring up their profile from calling cards it brings up the classic non web profile, showing offline. the feed tab shows nothing shared. With no option to post on it. When their account was active that tab would have had things posted on it. I chose some calling cards at random feed tabs suggest accounts not deleted but have unknown in the online status 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfie Reanimator Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 8 minutes ago, Claireschen Hesten said: If I bring up their profile from calling cards it brings up the classic non web profile, showing offline. the feed tab shows nothing shared. With no option to post on it. When their account was active that tab would have had things posted on it. I chose some calling cards at random feed tabs suggest accounts not deleted but have unknown in the online status Out of curiosity, could I have a copy of that calling card for some investigation? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowan Amore Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 8 minutes ago, Wulfie Reanimator said: Out of curiosity, could I have a copy of that calling card for some investigation? I was curious, too. I didn't have any old cards.to.check and wondered if that card would still be 'live' . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claireschen Hesten Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 20 minutes ago, Wulfie Reanimator said: Out of curiosity, could I have a copy of that calling card for some investigation? Sure will just look it out again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Pole Posted June 14, 2023 Share Posted June 14, 2023 Getting back to the OP the account name (username) is not personal information with regards to data protection as it is not the name of a living person (unless you managed to obtain a name that does actually match your own RL name). Remember that SL is one huge database and deleted key fields from databases when links to that key may exist (calling cards, created items etc.) would result in untold issues. Whilst you can elect to delete your SL account think instead of it as being made inactive and totally unable to log in to. The longer that goes on for the more difficult it is to restore the account because the data has to be recovered from backups and they are not kept forever. So whilst a breadcrumb trail of the account still has to remain the actual avatar and its inventory will in fact be zapped - this I know because it happened to me. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathrine Jansma Posted July 5, 2023 Share Posted July 5, 2023 On 6/14/2023 at 9:14 AM, Titan Varela said: Getting back to the OP the account name (username) is not personal information with regards to data protection as it is not the name of a living person (unless you managed to obtain a name that does actually match your own RL name). For GDPR that does not matter. This blog article describes the differences to the usual PII and the definition in the EU GDPR which is broader and does cover usernames. https://techgdpr.com/blog/difference-between-pii-and-personal-data/ But usually the risk involved is small enough, so besides some extra paperwork not much happens usually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowan Amore Posted July 5, 2023 Share Posted July 5, 2023 1 hour ago, Kathrine Jansma said: For GDPR that does not matter. This blog article describes the differences to the usual PII and the definition in the EU GDPR which is broader and does cover usernames. https://techgdpr.com/blog/difference-between-pii-and-personal-data/ But usually the risk involved is small enough, so besides some extra paperwork not much happens usually. Not sure how that would apply to second life accounts as they are not natural persons... "Thus, a natural person deals with the requirement that « personal data » is about « living individuals " Also, your data is anonymous... "Personal data that has been rendered anonymous in such a way that the individual is not or no longer identifiable is no longer considered personal data." Both quotes are from the link you posted. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love Zhaoying Posted July 5, 2023 Share Posted July 5, 2023 2 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said: Not sure how that would apply to second life accounts as they are not natural persons... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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