A research of each company's private policy

1.Deployment of Services

We conducted a sample study comprising 35 companies, categorized into 10 social platforms, 10 financial, 10 technical, and 4 government organizations. Based on this sample, we observed five distinct types of current implementation methods for data deletion: 1) deleting data via account setting, 2) using email communication, 3) submitting a written request, 4) filling out an inquiry form, and 5) contacting customer support. The summary of these methods is presented in the following table.

Conclusion

From the table above, it is evident that the “Account Setting” method is the most widely used approach for users to exercise their data deletion right (right to be forgotten), and this method is adopted by most social media companies. However, all governmental organizations do not make any statement or provide a way for users to request the deletion of their data.

Regarding the rights to erasure in Discord, besides offering a way to delete data by deleting the account, it also provides an automated scheme wherein users’ data would be deleted if their accounts remain inactive for more than two years. This data deletion scheme is commendable as it fulfills the right of erasure without requiring users to submit deletion requests themselves. In other words, for those concerned about their data privacy, they need not worry about whether their data will be deleted, even if they have not actively requested it.

On the other hand, it is observed that all governmental agencies do not provide a way for users to request data deletion. The reason behind this is that most of the data processed by the government is done as a result of legal obligations or to carry out public tasks, and users cannot request the deletion of this data.

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Right to be erasure