Hide Profile Details of Deleted Accounts
Ruthin Deed
It should not be possible to read the profile data that an avatar had at the point at which the account was deleted. The continued availability of this information is possibly in breach of privacy laws, including the EU Right to be Forgotten law. If an object was created by a since deleted account then clicking on the creator's name (or the founder's name in a group) should state that this account has left Second Life. This already happens on my.secondlife.com, where it states of deleted accounts "This name is unavailable."
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Micaela Amore
The EU's "Right to be Forgotten," officially known as the right to erasure under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), allows individuals to request the removal of their personal data, so if it is not requested, a company does not need to remove it, no laws are broken as far as I can tell. For me, if this leads to deleting info of people that passed away, this would be a hard no for me.
Ruthin Deed
Micaela Amore - as my previous comment stated it is the lack of consent to this information remaining available that breaches the law. I am not aware that LL anywhere informs customers to remove data unless they want it to continue to be viewable. If you do not know it is still viewable (because you deleted your only account) they you do not know that you need to ask for the information to be removed. I know when I post on a forum that it will be available for ever (although one forum I left offered me removal of my posts and I agreed), but it is a reasonable assumption for a customer to make that deleting an account means that the account's profile is no longer viewable. Reddit removes the poster's name for deleted accounts, but keeps the post. The easy fix is to have an explanation of data privacy consequences when you delete an account, which under both EU and UK GDPR regulations requires a non-pre-ticked consent box. Death memorials can be handled in another way. Under EU and UK GDPR privacy for all is the presumption and legal obligation. Privacy can be opted out of but it should not be an undeclared, unconsented, opt in to lack of privacy.
Micaela Amore
Ruthin Deed - I looked into GDPR and deleted accounts a bit more, and it turns out you're right and I am wrong. The emphasis on informed consent for data retention, even after account deletion, is a key part of GDPR. LL should let their legal experts have a look at it.
Madi Melodious
Micaela Amore I'm going to go with a hard no also for the very same reason. I have lost more than few friends over the years from cancer. The ability to open their profile and is greatly comforting to me when remembering them.
Ruthin Deed
My reading of the GDPR regulations is that for this to be a legal treatment of an EU citizen (even for a non-EU based service) is would require a non-preticked consent box when you delete your account with text such as "I want and consent to the information currently on my profile to remain viewable in-world after this account is deleted and I acknowledge that I will be unable to alter that profile after account deletion."
Ruthin Deed
The privacy problem is that most users deleting accounts presume that it is gone forever and so have not removed RL information that they were happy to have online at the time and had no idea that it would be accessible forever in-world (but thankfully not on my.secondlife.com). Users post more than just in-game information to their SL profiles, including RL photographs.
Alwin Alcott
it is not a bread of privacy laws, not even in the strict EU. A profile isn't RL information but gaming info. And also no track to RL information.
jackiewallace Resident
Alwin Alcott I have to disagree with what you're saying, because if someone reports you, and you ask Linden Lab for the legacy name of the person who reported you, they will not disclose it, citing privacy reasons. Linden Lab treats the username as personal data (from their perspective, it qualifies as personal information). Since an account is tied to an email address, IP address, banking data, and KYC, all data found in the profile is therefore considered personal data. Some of the images in profiles are also protected by copyright.
Ruthin Deed
Alwin Alcott this is incorrect. From GDPR Compliance in Online Gaming website.
"Gaming companies store a wealth of personal data, from the basics such as user names and email addresses, to more detailed information such as behavioural patterns, friend lists, purchase histories, and sometimes even location data. The sheer volume of data being collected means that companies have huge responsibilities to protect sensitive information, especially when the user base includes minors. It’s here that GDPR compliance becomes particularly critical.
...
GDPR is a privacy regulation enacted by the EU with the primary goal of giving individuals more control over how their personal data is collected, stored, and used. Among other requirements, the regulation mandates that companies must be transparent about what data they collect, obtain explicit consent before collecting data, and give users the right to access, correct, and delete their data."
Ikaros Alpha
Sometimes a real life partner will add the information that the person is deceased. Then deletes the account. In a way that is like a memorial account on Facebook. I really would not want to miss that information.