A privacy question around the usernames

[tvwp8s1p]

First of all, I want make it clear that this is a alt account created by a banned account (which I want to leave it anonymous if possible) and this is not a ban appeal.

Mostly if someone wants to change his username you will have to pay 50 BTC to become a donator and gain the permission to change your username as you want.

But the problem with it is that the username is something very powerful when talking about privacy because if you have the same username for a lot of services it will be easy to link all accounts to you, and this forum is not a exception.

Now, talking to my situation: I created my original account more than two years ago, when I didn't expected that the cryptocurrencies could turn into a serious political discussion as it is today, and as I usually do I just created the account with my username that I use in a lot of other services. Now, for personal and even security reasons I don't want to have a account with my username related to a forum about cryptocurrencies anymore, so what Im asking for the forum is to have some option to disassociate a username of a account.

I know that deleting a account with all posts could create serious problems with old posts, but this is still the best option for someone to conserve the privacy. And if deleting account is not a option I would ask for simple options such as the ability to disable the account and turn the username to random characters for example, I know that will still have "evidences" of the account if someone typed the username in another post, but this could be better than nothing...

*Please, I sent some medsages to the staff asking for the same thing and I sent my old username to you, so if it's possible don't post my username here.

*Sorry for my bad English.

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[hilariousandco]

Even if we deleted accounts or renamed them the internet never forgets. Sure, it sucks if you weren't as educated about privacy when you first signed up but I'd just use that as a learning experience because I'm not sure the policy will change anytime soon. I wouldn't be against allowing users to change their usernames and did suggest it as one of the perks for new donator ranks but they also won't be here anytime soon if ever.

[khaled0111]

Even if the use of cryptocurrencies is forbidden in your country, a username is not a strong evidence to condemn you.
(maybe that's why this forum don't ask for email confirmation when you register)

[tvwp8s1p]

Even if the use of cryptocurrencies is forbidden in your country, a username is not a strong evidence to condemn you.

It's not just about government problems, when more information about you is in public, the chances to get a problem is so much bigger.

Even if we deleted accounts or renamed them the internet never forgets. Sure, it sucks if you weren't as educated about privacy when you first signed up but I'd just use that as a learning experience because I'm not sure the policy will change anytime soon. I wouldn't be against allowing users to change their usernames and did suggest it as one of the perks for new donator ranks but they also won't be here anytime soon if ever.

Yes, the internet never forgets, but there is a big difference about having your name associated to cryptocurrencies in a google search and with a search of your name in cached websites.

And I thought about using this case as a lesson and give up of my username, but sometimes a action like changing the username is simpler and a enough decision.

[Ispep]

First of all, I want make it clear that this is a alt account created by a banned account (which I want to leave it anonymous if possible) and this is not a ban appeal.

This is BAN EVASION, and this account should/would also get banned,you are only allowed to make a thread appealing your ban,and this isn't a ban appeal,but a suggestion to the community and it's unacceptable,coming from someone who has been banned.

[Pmalek]

I dont think changing usernames should be possible simply due to the fact that one could use his account for bad purposes such as scamming/hacking or other misuse and then change its username and delete evidence of the misuse.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

Your username is what identifies you & makes you unique here. I don’t see why anybody would want to change their unless it was for shady behaviour like scamming etc.

[DdmrDdmr]

You are basically asking to have your digital footprint deleted from Bitcointalk, which I figure is not a policy that has a defined procedure further than deleting your own posts.

On the Google side of things, you can try to delete it once you manage to remove it from the original source, by following the procedure described here: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/6349986?hl=en. If you has sensitive personal information that shows in relation to live sites, you could try to get them removed from the search engine, although the set of applicable cases are rather more restrictive (see https://support.google.com/legal/troubleshooter/1114905).

Note: @Ispep is right in what he states.

[TryNinja]

Something just crossed my mind.

What about GDPR? Shouldn't we be able to see what data theymos has on us and be able to delete everything if we want?

[DdmrDdmr]

<…>

That's what I had in mind. GDPR is EU regulation, and the recent changes are rather more demanding than before (more theoretical control of personal information for the user). Since this forum is not EU based, then I’m not really sure how it applies, it at all.

What constitutes personal information on the site is also discussible. The majority of people do not leave real personal data behind, but the email is a particle to potentially tie the account to other real life scenarios where one could be traced back to. Arguably, the email is not shown unless it is at will (or a data breach).

I’ve been reading about it for a while now, and it’s all a bit tits-up, with opinions of all sorts. Regardless, since the forum is not EU bases, it really should not apply.

[LoyceMobile]

Something just crossed my mind.

What about GDPR? Shouldn't we be able to see what data theymos has on us and be able to delete everything if we want?

Theymos on https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1902503.msg18991383#msg18991383: "I intend to ignore all stupidity coming out of the EUSSR."

[TryNinja]

I’ve been reading about it for a while now, and it’s all a bit tits-up, with opinions of all sorts. Regardless, since the forum is not EU bases, it really should not apply.

Actually, IIRC, the GDPR applies to every website that can be accessed by EU citizens. If this forum allows EU citizens, you should (according to EU laws) let them have full access to their data regardless of where the forum is based/hosted/maintained.

Theymos on https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1902503.msg18991383#msg18991383: "I intend to ignore all stupidity coming out of the EUSSR."

Got it. Thanks.

[DdmrDdmr]

<...> Actually, IIRC, the GDPR applies to every website that can be accessed by EU citizens. If this forum allows EU citizens, you should (according to EU laws) let them have full access to their data regardless of where the forum is based/hosted/maintained. <...>

I think that it depend’s on the targeting intent of the non-EU based sites (see the examples provided here: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/reform/rules-business-and-organisations/application-regulation/who-does-data-protection-law-apply_en).

One could state that the forum does not explicitly target EU public (neither through communication, adds nor translated landing page), but it does have local language forums within (some solely EU original, others shared across different continents such as the Spanish local forum, although with an English interface). 

Nice case for those literate in laws, but it seems that if anything is to happen it will be reactive at best.