Deleted user address appears in email log

Support
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1

In reviewing the email log, I noticed that we would appear to be emailing an address that doesn’t have a user:

ghost_user_email
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Research elsewhere shows that this was a recently self-deleted user. These log entries do predate the deletion – but there are no similar entries for other deleted users.

Just wondering how things work: does user deletion normally remove such traces?

This makes it sound like “yes”…

2

Also: this self-deleted user’s single post (which got deleted too) was 10 months old.

Log entries show a "delete user" and "delete post."
Log entries show a "delete user" and "delete post."1087×121 18.5 KB

Shouldn’t this user’s self-deletion have been prevented by this setting?:

Setting "Delete user max post age" is set to 60 days.

3

I think the 60 days define how long staff can easily delete a user. The 60 days are used in the warning shown to staff on the user’s admin page

Screenshot_20251018_140931_Firefox
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Self deletion is based on Delete user self max post count

Screenshot_20251018_140855_Firefox
Screenshot_20251018_140855_Firefox1038×208 44.3 KB

4

Thanks for the clarification, Moin. A small tweak to the Delete user max post age description could make it clearer: Don't allow staff to delete users whose first post in older than (x) days.

I’m still curious whether the address remaining in email logs is a glitch. Seems like that could be a GDPR/PII type of concern.

5

How long do you keep your email logs? By default those are deleted after 90 days (Delete email logs after days). I think it’s as HAWK often writes: it’s not the software that is compliant, but its use.

6

Yes, mine are kept 90 days – so I probably just don’t have more messages-to-deleted-users to see there.

I might have spent too much time reading threads about GDPR concerns, account deletion, etc., and took away an incorrect notion about addresses being immediately purged.