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"Delete account" is missing on Wayfarer page and Community Forum page
Johnsonsine-ING
Posts: 417 ✭✭✭✭
So this is kind of a big one.
You can't delete your Wayfarer account, if you decide you don't want to be a part of Wayfarer anymore.
I personally think it's both hilarious and scary that Niantic still hasn't learned: A user must always have direct and instant access to the complete deletion of their account, be it in one of the games or any of the associated programmes (like Wayfarer), if they should wish to do so.
It's nobody's business why someone would want their PoGO/Ingress/Wayfarer/whatever account deleted, and it's completely irrelevant what others may think of this wish. Just before someone starts going down that road again...
This is not a presentation for a debate. This is a report for Niantic. Nothing more, nothing less.
I fought with Niantic a little over a year and a half ago about the right to delete my Pokémon GO account. At the time, I had to request deletion by sending an email to some department and they would consider if I would be granted the deletion. Let that sink in. I threw a huge fit about this, I'll admit that. I just have a huge problem with trusting a company with sensitive personal data and then they don't honor their responsibility (or the law) at all.
Fun fact: Right after that 'fit', I was told this option suddenly popped up in people's PoGO Settings: The Delete Account option. Well enough hidden and semi-locked so that you wouldn't hit it and delete the account by accident.
While I'm glad the PoGO and Ingress accounts situation is now acceptable, I still have one big concern: What about Wayfarer and the forum? There is no Delete Account option here.
We all know that deleting one Niantic account will open some kind of Pandora's Box of Trouble and nobody wants that. When I finally got rid of my PoGO account, my Wayfarer account got locked and reset. I had over 40.000 reviews done at that time (March 2022). This is not outstanding in any way; many many many users are struggling with this. Search for other posts about this in the forum, if you want to see the horrors.
That Niantic still hasn't thought up some proper way of handling all of this is not surprising, but it is very inconvenient and kills a lot of the fun for a lot of users and players. That's the choice Niantic continues to make, and they seem to be happy enough about that, so let's focus on the legal situation in holding someone back from deletion of an account: How IS that situation, Niantic? Can you afford to keep making these mistakes? Could you consider maybe respecting your users' right to just a minimum of control over personal data choices? If not, you will probably "get help" respecting it at some point anyway. Maybe just take the shortcut. Put a Delete Account option in the Settings on the Wayfarer page, and one for the Community Forum too.
Some will say this is not the place. "Go to the [other forum or support of choice] with this". A fun little info for you: I tried emailing Niantic's privacy officer. I was replied to by a support team member who tried schooling me about how to get in-game help via PoGO support chat. I don't play PoGO.
Looking forward to a change. I always like to have a choice and I'm sure I'm not alone in that.
Things have changed when it comes to storing personal data and Niantic needs to start respecting that.
Comments
Wayfarer is set up differently and the current method for requesting account deletion is via the help bubble. You sound as though you have a preference for a different route, but for the foreseeable future that is the route to take.
I do agree this is not ideal and I think the most obvious place is under privacy in settings, but since there is a way to achieve deletion that is what you should follow. (PS I have more than once accidently clicked on account deletion in PoGo a bit too easy for my mind.)
You make a good additional point about deletion of your data from this forum, it is not one I have seen raised before. I think it should be looked into and addressed. I guess it will all depend on the architecture behind the scenes and if it is a built in function, or if something bespoke is possible.
Hello @Johnsonsine-ING,
Thank you for your post. We have escalated this to the team for consideration and will be sure to share here if and when any changes go into affect. As for forum account deletions, I'll be sure to look into this matter and post updates when available. Thanks!
Any news? Considering it's been some months now, an update would be appropriate.