Deleting messages in the locked threads and deleting long threads

[Skeletor]

Delete option should be extended. We cannot delete locked topic messages (They could only restrict editing in the locked topics) and we could delete long topics. We can delete our threads if there 4-5 messages. Steam should give us permission to remove our own discussion board data.

I cannot delete my account because of this. I have more than 1000 games and I paid a lot of money.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by Breakpoint:

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

And those countries may already have such information in hand.

An example of an archive site:
https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://steamcommunity.com/id/breakpoint_0*

If you ask and prove your ownership, Webarchive remove your data. I did it in the past.

Yet, this data still shows. And they are not the only ones who archive sites, just an example of one.

[Skeletor]

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

Originally posted by Breakpoint:

If you ask and prove your ownership, Webarchive remove your data. I did it in the past.

Yet, this data still shows. And they are not the only ones who archive sites, just an example of one.

I don't know another alternative. It is the only long-term archive site I have known.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by Breakpoint:

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

Yet, this data still shows. And they are not the only ones who archive sites, just an example of one.

I don't know another alternative. It is the only long-term archive site I have known.

https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/top-wayback-machine-alternatives/

And those are not all of them.

[Skeletor]

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

Originally posted by Breakpoint:

I don't know another alternative. It is the only long-term archive site I have known.

https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/top-wayback-machine-alternatives/

And those are not all of them.

The list
#1) Stillio Automatic Screenshots (It takes website screenshots)
#2) Internet Archive (It is the wayback machine's itself)
#3) Domain Tools (This is all about domain, nameserver history, etc. Technical info)
#4) PageFreezer (Paid limited service)
... (Website snapshot, etc. etc.)

None of them keep data like Wayback Machine and they can't (If you are not Google, Microsoft, etc.) You would need lots of money to maintain this kind of service.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by Breakpoint:

The list
#1) Stillio Automatic Screenshots (It takes website screenshots)
#2) Internet Archive (It is the wayback machine's itself)
#3) Domain Tools (This is all about domain, nameserver history, etc. Technical info)
#4) PageFreezer (Paid limited service)
... (Website snapshot, etc. etc.)

None of them keep data like Wayback Machine and they can't (If you are not Google, Microsoft, etc.) You would need lots of money to maintain this kind of service.

And as I said, there are more out there. They still archive websites and the information they hold. The information you want gone, still exists and will exist on the internet forever.

If you feel the government is out to get you through your posts on Steam then someone already linked how to delete the account.

Originally posted by Satoru:

https://help.steampowered.com/wizard/HelpDeleteAccount

Here is the link to delete your account.

[Skeletor]

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

Originally posted by Breakpoint:

The list
#1) Stillio Automatic Screenshots (It takes website screenshots)
#2) Internet Archive (It is the wayback machine's itself)
#3) Domain Tools (This is all about domain, nameserver history, etc. Technical info)
#4) PageFreezer (Paid limited service)
... (Website snapshot, etc. etc.)

None of them keep data like Wayback Machine and they can't (If you are not Google, Microsoft, etc.) You would need lots of money to maintain this kind of service.

And as I said, there are more out there. They still archive websites and the information they hold. The information you want gone, still exists and will exist on the internet forever.

They cannot archive every page of Steam discussion forums. Internet Archive also keeps the most important, popular pages.

[Mad Scientist]

Originally posted by Breakpoint:

The data might not be sensitive and it might not be considered as personal according to the law. But It has direct relation with your account and it is your intellectual property..

There's a large difference in things someone creates, and merely writing an opinion on a forum.
If you want your posts gone and an entire "Fresh Start", account deletion is suggested. Or you can make a request to unlink forum posts from your account, however, if they do, then never using the forums again on the same account is strictly recommended, as courtesies are just that; usually one time.

Originally posted by Breakpoint:

If you write something against law, you may be judged. This means the data has connection with you. It belongs to you. It is you. It is not something anonymous.

All the information tied to the user who made the post, the connection, date & time can still be saved as "deleted" or put in hidden areas for moderation, IT, to administration. Not doing anything unlawful on the forums is incredibly easy to accomplish.

Originally posted by Breakpoint:

Facebook, Twitter, etc. give you right to delete your account, completely.

You can do that here, someone already linked you to start the process.

Originally posted by Breakpoint:

Also your country's habits may change either according to a new government. New laws cannot judge the past but they may still bring trouble in the future. There are also authoritarian countries which use Steam.

What, exactly, are you worried about? One country cannot just request a user from another country be punished, as example. Nor do random governments really care what people say on a video game forum if not extremely illegal. Though if you're bypassing a regional local-client-only restriction ie not allowed to use the international version, that action could get you into serious trouble.

Originally posted by Breakpoint:

My account is very old (13 years) and habits are changing according to the time. Sometimes you need a fresh start.

Ask them politely to unlink forum posts if that's the only thing you care about.
-or-
You can stop using the old account & use the new one, use the old one far less, or just delete the old one & make a new one. Do note; deletion means that, and the games will never be recoverable, nor will the account after the timer has ended. They also cannot be transferred to another account.

Originally posted by Breakpoint:

If you ask and prove your ownership, Webarchive remove your data. I did it in the past.

Places wont continually accept requests over & over, eventually they will put their foot down & start asking questions, which could get other parties involved. That's usually the moment someone internally backs up all the things someone is requesting being removed to protect the business as a suspicious pattern tends to set off red flags.

Originally posted by Breakpoint:

They cannot archive every page of Steam discussion forums. Internet Archive also keeps the most important, popular pages.

They easily could. It's KB's, text mostly, easy to backup.

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

And as I said, there are more out there. They still archive websites and the information they hold. The information you want gone, still exists and will exist on the internet forever.

"The only way to win is not to play"

[Skeletor]

Originally posted by Mad Scientist:

Originally posted by Breakpoint:

The data might not be sensitive and it might not be considered as personal according to the law. But It has direct relation with your account and it is your intellectual property..

Originally posted by Breakpoint:

They cannot archive every page of Steam discussion forums. Internet Archive also keeps the most important, popular pages.

They easily could. It's KB's, text mostly, easy to backup.

They don't only archive Steam. Internet Archive archives all the internet websites. So, you cannot find every discussion board page there regardless of the page size. Of course, they may still archive your data by chance. This is a possibility. But this is also paranoia. Deleting data is the best way instead of keeping and forgetting it.

Unlinking data seems like a solution but they might improve this solution. I am talking about an optional feature. You don't have to use it. Some users may need it. Maybe someday you may need it because of some reason either. We cannot know what will happen in the future.

[En]

OP, if I may offer you some hope: I actually contacted Steam support the other day and requested two posts of mine in locked threads be deleted for personal reasons. They initially told me they couldn't do it because there was no option for "mass deletion" (this was likely a boilerplate response) but I replied again and told them I was only asking for two posts to be deleted, and then I got an actual human response and they deleted both posts as a "courtesy."

You might not be able to delete a lot but if there's anything specific you want gone you can try asking Steam support and they may do so for you. I've also heard from another person that they asked Steam support to delete a post they made in a locked thread because it contained personal info and it was immediately deleted by support.

I agree that there should be more options to delete posts in locked threads. We all grow and change as people or perhaps we were just younger and dumber, and have said things on the internet strangers shouldn't know about us. It's a privacy precaution I'd like to see at some point.