I think every member should be given the option to erase his exsistence from ATS.

They can't do that, that would be assisted suicide and everyone knows there are rules against assisted suicide.

Klassified

Also, if I'm not mistaken, when we sign up, we agree that ALL content belongs to The Above Network, once it's posted.

Does this mean that the short stories you post here can't be moved somewhere else too? That you can't use an argument used here anywhere else, or publish a picture or video that you took because now ATS owns the picture of my cat?

Mamatus
I don't care one bit if threads look like Swiss cheese. Having the ability to remove yourself from the internet should be a God given right. It is easier to remove your presence from Face# than it is to remove you from ATS.

I have always wondered about how stupid it was to join ATS..........

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

If you think you may regret something your doing than you probably shouldn't do it. That nude photo of you riding on top of a mountain goat with a bottle of tequila in each hand may seem funny now but later on you may regret that it was put on a social network.

reply to post by Spookybelle


Again. It shouldn't matter what your reason/s are. It should still be an option, if i want to delete my existence due to the fact that i think Barbra Streisands cat is investigating me for jfks murder or simply because i want to increase my anonymity on the internet or god forbid i posted a picture of my penis in the ufo forum.... I should have that choice, and i shouldn't have to explain my reasons.

reply to post by ChuckNasty


I will drink to that

ATS is a private company and can do whatever the want, it would be nice if they were honest about it thought. I've been on plenty of forums, not a single one stopped you from deleting your account or posts. And there were never any major issues with swiss cheese threads. ATS seems to do a ton of "odd" things compared to the multitude of other forums I've belonged to. It almost seems like they purposefully do things to instigate conspiracy talk about them.

Although, most forums I belong to have the goal making their member's happy, where as ATS doesn't seem to give a hoot about what the populace here thinks unless it has to do with cosmetic or convenience issues.

The good still outweighs the bad, but the attitude some members and staff portray that we should be lucky to have access to ATS is ridiculous. This isn't a one-way street, the content provided by members (that's you and me) has real value, as in real world monetary, dollars type of value. We pay ATS with content, and ATS provides us with a service. Usually the opinions of paying customers factors in somewhat to service providers, but... yeah.

Here's an idea, if you are really wanting to retain the ability to remove anything you post, simply start a blog, post everything first on your blog, THEN post it on ATS. If you want your content removed say how it was already posted elsewhere and you didn't have permission to post it here on ATS.

Mamatus
I don't care one bit if threads look like Swiss cheese. Having the ability to remove yourself from the internet should be a God given right. It is easier to remove your presence from Face# than it is to remove you from ATS.

I have always wondered about how stupid it was to join ATS..........

You are willingly putting your thoughts and words on ATS's servers...you signed an agreement that you hand over ownership of everything you post to ATS...once you post it, it is no longer yours to remove.

It is not a "god given right"...lol...that is ridiculous.

The reason(s) have been explained pretty well.

But let's put it this way:
Take a book - let's say "The Hobbit". Tear out pages 10, 17, 100, 101, 102, 167, 245, 318 and 319. Give it to someone to read. Ask if they enjoyed it? Do you think they will mention the fact that some parts of this great book was missing?

We are all basically collaborating and writing an excellent work of material here for all of the world to see. For free. ATS would not exist was it not for each and every member here - no matter how big or small your role. Some members write brilliant opening posts on a daily basis. Others post once in 6 months. But when they post they may turn the tides in a thread/theory. Everyone is part of a community - the ATS community - and as with any other community we all want what is best for the community. So, selfishly removing what you've given to the community, from the community would be unfair to the entire community.

Secondly - the technical issues. The ATS database is big. Think about it...

Total Posts: 17,060,630
Total Topics: 967,807
Total Members: 290,701

17 million posts. Anyone that has worked with databases and know something about primary keys and secondary/reference keys and indexes will tell you that it would be a nightmare to remove several primary keys and references to those keys at a single go. Not only do you have consider the actual keys (posts) but you also have to consider the "reply to" posts. I work with databases on a daily basis, and I can tell you that is not something you want to do.

Then there is the Eternity Law of the Internet. Once you've posted something online, it is there forever. Every page, every site, every picture, EVERYTHING is saved and/or cached somewhere. So, even if ATS removed you from "existence" the evidence that you existed will still available somewhere. That is why all Internet users are warned and warned again: Don't put something online you might regret tomorrow.

And finally, when you registered on ATS:

17) Rights In Posted Materials: By posting on this message board, you relinquish all exclusive copyrights to any materials you Post and furthermore, you grant TAN non-exclusive, non-revocable worldwide, royalty-free rights to copy, distribute, display, reproduce, modify, adapt, create derivative works, and publicly perform the materials in perpetuity in all forms. This license applies to all works of authorship including, but not limited to, written materials (e.g., text), audio, audio-visual materials, graphics, and images (including, but not limited to, graphics and images used as avatars). You also grant all third parties the right to copy, distribute, display, reproduces, and publicly perform the materials you post under the terms of the Creative Commons License. TAN has the authority to decide to display your postings or not, and you grant TAN the right to modify your posts, remove offensive material, modify your post title to accurately reflect content, remove vulgar comments, remove insults, or delete any other content deemed inappropriate, all at our discretion.

You signed on the little dotted line. Granted that you didn't read the Terms and Conditions on that very first day, you still had more than 6 years to familiarize yourself with the T&Cs. These are you rights. It is no secret, it's not hidden and sorry to say, they were not written by a god on stone tablets or presented by an angel to a virgin owner.

That being said, we have a very, VERY strict privacy policy. We don't even allow the discussion of banned members, never-mind active members. So, unless you go around telling people that Retikx is actually the pseudonym of Robert Downey Jnr, no one will ever know know your true identity. The Internet may be unforgiving when it comes to its memory, but it also gives the power of an anonymous voice - as long as YOU take responsibility for that anonymity.

reply to post by Gemwolf

17 million posts. Anyone that has worked with databases and know something about primary keys and secondary/reference keys and indexes will tell you that it would be a nightmare to remove several primary keys and references to those keys at a single go. Not only do you have consider the actual keys (posts) but you also have to consider the "reply to" posts. I work with databases on a daily basis, and I can tell you that is not something you want to do.

It's actually not that big of a database...as databases go, that is pretty small.

And you actually wouldn't have to delete all the posts, just remove the actual content (text) and leave the rows in place so there are no orphan records. It would actually be a fairly easy update statement for a given user.

Of course I'm not suggesting that, because I think the idea of "erasing" yourself from any website is kind of silly....just pointing out that there really isn't a technical roadblock from doing it with a database that small (or even if it was a big database).

reply to post by AlienScience


I'm not familiar with the details of the ATS database, or even have a clue how many tables there are, what the relationships are, etc. I do know that our database is very temperamental and emotional. Just the other day (with the switch to the new site design) the database had a hissy fit, which lead to the great message purge of 2013.

So, yes, the database changes/technicalities are a big concern in these matters for the guys with the thick glasses.

reply to post by Retikx


I agree, there should be an option to at-least remove your name/profile.
the post can stay, but some innocuous name ie '' forgotten user ''

reply to post by Agit8dChop


That is the easiest solution by far in terms of detaching an alias from a topic.

There was a time when a person could go back to any of his posts and simply edit them and delete the content, i'm not sure when this occurred but i do remember it. Whats changed?

"swiss cheese" and technical issues are flimsy justifications , i cant speak for everyone but i would think that the vast majority of registered members are simply here for the first post. They want to get in read the first post and check out the link and move on. I don't see a 150 page post and decide i'm going to go through it one by one and absorb the back and forth, i showed up for the news in the op. I really think that's how most people use this site, so suddenly seeing gaps in between a running conversation inst going to somehow ruin the content.

And as far as admin or technical issues are concerned its not difficult, and could be easily automated.

reply to post by Retikx


It's kind of like letting the cat out of the bag.
If you are paranoid about someone in Utah reading your comments, they already have a hard copy of what you wrote the second you hit the reply button.
Just don't drunk post about your storing Sadam's wmd's in your basement and all should be fine.

reply to post by Retikx


You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave - The Eagles.

ATS is really a front run by aliens as a clearing house for potential abductees...sorry...

Mamatus
I don't care one bit if threads look like Swiss cheese. Having the ability to remove yourself from the internet should be a God given right. It is easier to remove your presence from Face# than it is to remove you from ATS.

I have always wondered about how stupid it was to join ATS..........

So when you signed up... you forgo your god giveb right by force eh?

Oh wait...

g146541
reply to post by Retikx

 

It's kind of like letting the cat out of the bag.
If you are paranoid about someone in Utah reading your comments, they already have a hard copy of what you wrote the second you hit the reply button.
Just don't drunk post about your storing Sadam's wmd's in your basement and all should be fine.

The fact that the data is already stored somewhere else copied upon copied upon copied is irrelevant, as I've said before why does there need to be a good reason?

What is ATS legal obligation anyway? If i was to obtain a court order to erase all traces of my membership are they legally obliged to comply?

Retikx
...
What is ATS legal obligation anyway? If i was to obtain a court order to erase all traces of my membership are they legally obliged to comply?

Legal obligation

Honestly, this is something you should think of before you even create an account. Especially on a site like this one. But really, all internet forums are pretty much the same. I can go to any forum I've ever made a post on in the last ten years and find everything I ever said. And last I checked, Usenet before that still finds most of my old posts.

Like they say, the internet is forever. You have to assume that and be mindful of it every minute when you're online.

To be honest, unless you make deliberately threatening posts or you make a lot of posts that could be interpreted as threatening, I kind of doubt you'll have too much to worry about. Really. There are lots of forums and so many gazillions of posts.

As it is, I have always gone out of my way to try and make sure my posts are relatively benign and can't be misinterpreted as threatening in any way. Though that's no guarantee, that's the best you can do. You will not find many (if any) admins who would even consider erasing your entire existence from a forum. And I'm not even sure they can once you have a large number of posts.

Besides that. How do you know this site isn't owned by the government? Might not do any good to delete everything. And I would certainly assume the government archives whatever they can get their hands on whether it technically belongs to them or not. If they're sucking up metadata from your phone calls (or whatever they're up to) I think it's safe to assume nothing is sacred.

Retikx
reply to post by Spookybelle

 

Again. It shouldn't matter what your reason/s are. It should still be an option, if i want to delete my existence due to the fact that i think Barbra Streisands cat is investigating me for jfks murder or simply because i want to increase my anonymity on the internet or god forbid i posted a picture of my penis in the ufo forum.... I should have that choice, and i shouldn't have to explain my reasons.

how silly would someone be who signs up to post on a forum, accepting the terms and conditions, and then says they should have the right to delete their content.

That's the stupid litigation mentality. "I want hot coffee.. oh the coffee burnt me. I will sue you for selling me hot coffee!"

You have every option right now to NOT post. Why wait till after you have posted to say you want to remove it?

The facts are, you don't have that choice, you knew this before you signed up and you can argue till you're blue in the face.

You said "Ok I accept the rules." when you signed up... far out.

A thread would look like this after deleting a account in layman's terms.

Jimmy: why can't we delete our accounts
(hidden not visible)Tommy: (hidden not visible)
Jimmy: yes I agree interesting you say that
Bobby: what the hell did tommy say because he deleted him self.


This is why we can't delete our accounts.

Its not like you used your real name, you agreed to the terms and conditions..