# Users self-deleting/anonymizing?

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/users-self-deleting-anonymizing/267657
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [June 8, 2023, 12:17pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/users-self-deleting-anonymizing/267657 "2023-06-08T12:17:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 10

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### Author: ![dfabulich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/dfabulich/32/108716_2.png) [@dfabulich](https://meta.discourse.org/u/dfabulich)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2025, 6:15pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/users-self-deleting-anonymizing/267657/10 "2025-02-20T18:15:28Z")

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I just voted for this feature, but specifically I want to allow users to _anonymize_ themselves.

I think it’s absolutely right that users shouldn’t be able to delete themselves once they’ve posted a lot or been around for a long time, but I think it would be really helpful for all users to be able to anonymize their own account.

> [@How can a user self-delete?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-can-a-user-self-delete/26227/7):
>
> Self service delete for users with lots of posts is not desirable, it can be very disruptive to forum members. They can simply contact a moderator who can take care of this if needed either by anonymizing or deleting.

In my experience, every time this has happened, it’s been _super_ unpleasant. The kind of person who wants to be deleted is usually having _very_ strong feelings about it, and it seems like the lack of a “Delete My Account” button aggravates those feelings.

When a user is so upset that they want to delete their account, and then find that they can’t, they tend to feel trapped in a cage. When they do get around to “simply contact a moderator,” they’re upset and _angry_.

These users typically _demand_ that their account be deleted. They make threats, legal and otherwise. They are not at all open to a nuanced conversation about deletion vs. anonymization.

I just got another one of these this week, and I _really_ don’t want to deal with another one.

As I’m imagining this feature, all users would have a “Delete My Account” button. Users who are under the deletion limits (`delete user max post age`, `delete user self max post count`) would get today’s “Delete My Account” experience.

Anyone _over_ that limit would see a different dialog, saying something like this:

> Are you sure you want to permanently delete your account?
> 
> Deleting your account will delete your user profile, but **your public posts will remain on the forum.** (Your posts will be anonymized, so nobody can see who posted them.)
> 
> This action cannot be undone!
> 
> ⚠ Delete My Account  
> Cancel

And then, if they click “Delete My Account,” they’d be logged out and anonymized.

(Despite the claim that anonymization can’t be undone, it _can_ be undone if the user creates a new account and an admin merges the anonymized account with the new one. So I’m not too worried about letting users anonymize themselves; we can always fix it later.)

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