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I asked 100 companies for my data. Some deleted it instead.
(arstechnica.com)
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this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2026
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Privacy
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I do not believe a single company deletes your data. They might change your PII so it cant be specifically attributed to you. But they are keeping the rest.
I process data deletion requests for one of my business clients, and we are quite thorough about it, but with so many intersecting apps engaged in third party data storage it can be challenging tracking down the crumbs.
Would not surprise me one bit to learn that your job is just to cover their ass. That you're not deleting anything that hasn't been backed up. But, if the shit hits the fan they can point to you and your records to "prove" they are deleting stuff.
I don't trust billionaires at all.
Oh, that company is run by millionaires not billionaires and they are pretty sincere in not wanting to keep data that is requested for removal.
Having been hit by accessibility and copyright legal trolls has made them kind of gun shy though.
I have convinced them that they won’t miss it, plus I set up an easy and documented workflow.
Nothing is deleted, just your access to it is removed. Sometimes the wording makes this clear.