Recently, I downloaded my data archive and found that the auth_token_logs.csv file contains all my IP addresses from the past three years. Unfortunately, my real IP address was exposed a couple of times, which could indirectly reveal my physical location. I have a few questions about this: Visibility of IP Addresses: Are these IP addresses accessible to admins and moderators through their dashboard? Can they view them outside the database? Data Removal: Is there a way to permanently delete all such data? Can this be done via the API? If I delete my account and recreate it, will this remove the IP logs as well? Reaching out to admins or moderators isn’t an option, as they are the ones I want to avoid sharing my data with. I believe the forum is hosted on Discourse’s managed hosting, as all images are served from discourse-cdn links. Does this mean the database is fully controlled by Discourse, and the forum admins have no access to it? Is this a safe assumption?

Hi there, you may want to take a quick read of How to delete all IP addresses? to see where IP addresses are (and could be) stored.

[image] arandomstranger: Does this mean the database is fully controlled by Discourse, and the forum admins have no access to it? Is this a safe assumption? No, that is not a safe assumption. The forum admins could: use the data explorer plugin to query the database create and download a backup and extract it somewhere else

@NateDhaliwal The forum in question is hosted by discourse. From what I have gathered: Admins and mods can directly see initial signup I.P and last I.P on the dashboard. User data can be downloaded by any admin or mod on the dashboard, which exposes the entire I.P history for any user.

[image] arandomstranger: Are these IP addresses accessible to admins and moderators through their dashboard? Can they view them outside the database? yes, sometimes this is necessary if a user needs to be blocked at the IP level (often spammers), if someone creates sockpuppet accounts, etc [image] arandomstranger: Reaching out to admins or moderators isn’t an option, as they are the ones I want to avoid sharing my data with. There is no other way for a user to delete this data. You must contact the admins.

[image] arandomstranger: Reaching out to admins or moderators isn’t an option, as they are the ones I want to avoid sharing my data with. Back to my general #1 rule: if you don’t trust a forums admins, don’t become / stay a member of that forum.

If you are concerned about IP sharing on the Internet, you are best to use things like VPNs & private browser windows. There maybe other types of up masking services.

How can I delete all of my PII user data?

Product Support

RGJ (Richard - Communiteq) December 17, 2025, 1:01pm 3

No, that is not a safe assumption. The forum admins could:

use the data explorer plugin to query the database
create and download a backup and extract it somewhere else

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How can I delete all of my PII user data?

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