Policy for username, content, attribution on deleted accounts

[xmatthewx]

When a user deletes their account, we need to handle their username, content, and attributions on remixes. We need to clarify this so we can update our terms of service.

Keep in mind that attribution is required by the CC license.

Here's a proposal. Please dissect it:

• User deletes their account
  • We retire the username
  • avoid spoofs and mis-attribution
  • We notify the user that:
  • their profile and content will also be deleted
  • remixes by others will remain, including an attribution to their username (any link to profile removed)
• User is removed due to violation
  • Same actions as above
  • Exception: Remove or obfuscate attribution if username is inappropriate

R? @simonwex @jbuck @thisandagain @ldecoursy @cassiemc @secretrobotron @thornet @hannahkane @hpauljohnson

[cassiemc]

Not sure what you mean by 'avoid spoofs and mis-attribution'. Can you clarify? The rest seems good to me.

[xmatthewx]

1. User A names themselves red-panda and makes a project called bamboo
2. User B remixes project bamboo, which gives credit to red-panda
3. User A deletes their account
4. User C joins and names themselves red-panda, takes credit for all the bamboo remixes and starts making weird stuff while pretending to be User A

We can retire usernames to avoid this. We keep usernames available when deleting spam accounts that produced no meaningful activity.

[xmatthewx]

@toolness mentioned a few good & bad precedents to consider:

• user deletes github account, all forks automatically delate, many people shed tears
• user deletes github account, their comments existing are attributed to 'deleted user'
• user deletes twitter account. account enters inactive state. user can change their mind within 6 months via a regular login

[toolness]

Just so you know, I'm not actually 100% sure about how github deals with deleted users--I think that is how it works but not sure.

Another great benchmark to look at might be Scratch, since it also forces users into an open license and shows chains of remixes with attribution and such.

[cassiemc]

Ooo I like this geekiness. I like referring to 'deleted user' rather than tying up user names for historical purposes. A very personal preference.

[hannahkane]

I have a particular concern about users who have content that is actively used by others—e.g. we are planning to create the concept of "groups." Groups would have an original owner, but other users might be "members" of the group. I wouldn't want the Group to go away if the original poster deletes their account. Meetup might be a good model for this—I believe they ask if any of the members want to step up and become the owner before they delete the Group.

Also wondering about Discourse threads and badges, and probably other things that I can't think of right now.