how to delete account

[metlx]

Can someone  tell me where I can delete my account? I can’t find that option.

If there isn’t one, I’d like an admin to delete my account.

[imron]

You can't delete your account or your posts as that would disrupt the flow of existing threads, instead I have just suspended your account.

 

If you no longer wish to participate in the forums, all you need to do is stop visiting.

[hubertpatrick]

Hi imron,

Can you suspend my account as well?

 

I don't like being tracked on the web  Thanks!

[imron]

Done.  I've also changed your name to something random.

[Guest]

Hi imron can you please suspend my account as well? Trying to delete but doesn’t work and now I understand why

[anonymoose]

This place is like the Hotel California.

[TheBigZaboon]

Please explain the previous"tracked on the web" comment.

 

For example, does this site have the capability of tracking the site a user came from, logged in or not, and the site a user moves to after finishing a visit, logged in or out? Does it also track other browsing someone may do, logged in or not, independent of a visit to this site?

 

I have maybe five or six devices I use to access this site, but these devices are also available to others to use without my supervision or permission. That's a lot of privacy to protect.

 

The previous user's comment got me to thinking…

Thanks,

 

TBZ

[edelweis]

maybe hubertpatrick was referring to the list of devices and locations you logged in from

https://www.chinese-forums.com/settings/devices/

 

[TheBigZaboon]

My questions were quite specific, but you answered one I didn't ask. From the information you gave me, I found I can track the devices used to access this site using my account. There's also rudimentary geographical information passed in spite of the fact I have tried to prevent that information from being gathered in my google and device-specific android settings. But I don't know if those accesses were logged-in accesses or not. Thanks for the help.

 

But I still would like answers to the questions I did ask.

[roddy]

7 hours ago, TheBigZaboon said:

For example, does this site have the capability of tracking the site a user came from, logged in or not, and the site a user moves to after finishing a visit, logged in or out? Does it also track other browsing someone may do, logged in or not, independent of a visit to this site?

We have no data on what you were doing before you visited the site, *unless* you actually click on a link that brings you here. Visit Wikipedia, then type chinese-forums.com into your address bar, and we don't know anything about your Wikipedia visit. If you *do* click on a link (say a wikipedia page cites a discussion on here and you click that link) then we may get referrer information. However that is never linked to an actual account - it's stored in the server logs and associated only with an IP address (which theoretically I could possibly link with an account, but I don't think I've ever had cause to do so and it's hard to imagine a scenario in which I would want to), and in aggregate and anonymous form  as part of our statistics (ie, we'd see that 5 people visited this site via wikipedia in September, but we wouldn't know which 5 people).

 

Similarly, if you click a link on this site we record that someone (but we don't know who) did that, and again that's stored in the aggregate. I can see, for example, that 6 people visited this page via a link on here yesterday. I can't see who they are.

 

That's the sum total of our knowledge as to what you do off site. Hope that answers the questions. 

 

2 hours ago, TheBigZaboon said:

There's also rudimentary geographical information passed in spite of the fact I have tried to prevent that information from being gathered in my google and device-specific android settings.

If you don't give us any geographical information, we simply don't know where to send the pages you ask for. If it's a matter of concern you need a VPN or something to mask your IP address. Although then your VPN knows everything you do. 

 

16 hours ago, wuhu4guo said:

Hi imron can you please suspend my account as well?

Imron's off on a retreat for stressed admins for a couple of days, but he's left me the keys... 

 

Edit: and also

 

2 hours ago, TheBigZaboon said:

But I don't know if those accesses were logged-in accesses or not.

 

Logged in, or we wouldn't know what account to show them under. It's not too uncommon for people to share IP addresses - shared computers, VPNs, being sat on the same cafe wifi, etc. 

[889]

As to the "tracked on the web" comment, it could be a different concern. Perhaps he was using the same handle on different sites, for example.

[Jaxx Morton]

I would also like my account to be deleted. Can an admin help me do that or send me a link to such a service?

[imron]

As mentioned above, we don't delete accounts because it disrupts content of any threads you've posted in, but I've anonymized your name, email and reset your password so you can't log in.

[DavyJonesLocker]

I get why people would be concern about removing their details if participating in  "questionable" online actvities especially in China but I curious why people are so concerned about Chinese forums. If an onlline presence worries people so much shouldn't you be looking at Google, whtaspps, facebook, instagram, yahoo etc  first etc 

 

what am i missing ? Become POTUS one day and fear someone will go back 15 years mining these threads for an untoward posting? ?

[BanjoSlice]

On 3/21/2019 at 12:16 PM, imron said:

As mentioned above, we don't delete accounts because it disrupts content of any threads you've posted in, but I've anonymized your name, email and reset your password so you can't log in.

Request for the same, please.

[imron]

Done.

[suMMit]

Curious why someone would suddenly want to be "deleted" after being here for several years

[杰.克]

I love the work Roddy and Imron do in maintaining the site, they put huge amounts of efforts in and are stars in the Chinese learning community.

[imron]

All personal data (name and email) was erased.

[杰.克]

Good point