Questions regarding leaving a forum (not this one)

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Hi,
I recently joined an online message board that in hindsight was probably a poor decision - it's kind of a sketchy place w/ some shady characters known for inciting chaos; "flaming", filled with "trolls", etc. At any rate, I wanted out.
I had never been in a position to want to officially and technically 'un-register' from a forum before. I was concerned that the forum would still have my cookie/registration info and that there was no official way to remove myself other than to simply stop posting/visiting.
My pm to the admin/moderator/site creator with similar sentiments was greeted with "I'd be happy to ban you Laughing

", so I think you get the idea of what I was dealing with. I replied to that by making a request for a more constructive response & then just tried to login now while writing this to see if there was any update only to see that I have indeed been unceremoniously unregistered (my login info no longer works).

Well, that's that. But I'd still like to know if:
-anyone thinks they have some of my pertinent info (registration/ip related)
-there's anything I can do about that,
-if there's any steps I can take to report/make a complaint to some kind of internet Better Business Bureau (Ha! Rolling Eyes

) regarding a genuinely shady outfit
-and finally what the protocol is in general for leaving forums/message boards for future reference.

Thanks. :wink:

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Whatever info you gave them when signing up they have. it would be stored on their systems. Banning you doesn't remove your registration.

You can remove the cookies on your end, and that would remove any traces of autologin or what ever they use the cookies for. But as for your personal information you gave them when signing up, you can't delete.

Some boards allow you to change your info on the fly. It would be a good idea in the future to change any info you can, and then ask for the ban. That way, even if they don't delete it (and they probably won't) they won't have the correct info.

What board? PM me if you don't mind and don't want it public.

As for the Internet BBB, I would say word of mouth on other boards. All the boards I've been/are on, there has been discussion of other boards. So I have an idea of some other boards around.

Finally, to leave, just go. Good byes aren't necessary, unless there's really someone you want to say good-bye to.

Might one suggest lurking on the board for a while before registering? If that's not possible, use a fake login to check it out, then your 'real' login if you want to stay. Most places don't like double logins, but if you don't know if you're going to like it or not, I don't have a problem doing that.

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Re: Questions regarding leaving a forum (not this one)

Roosh wrote:

:
-anyone thinks they have some of my pertinent info (registration/ip related)

Of course, and no matter what you do there is nothing you can do to get them to erase it. If they want to keep it forever it's perfectly within their right to.

But also important to note is that it doesn't really matter. Almost every single site you visit has that information.

Quote:

-there's anything I can do about that,

Absolutely nothing. But I recommend changing your email address, that's the only thing that could cause you any slight nuisance at all (if they spam you or if they sell your email address to spammers).

But that's really the only "risk" that's realistically worth even imagining.

Quote:

-if there's any steps I can take to report/make a complaint to some kind of internet Better Business Bureau (Ha! ) regarding a genuinely shady outfit

It would not make a difference as they are very likely not a business.

Quote:

-and finally what the protocol is in general for leaving forums/message boards for future reference.

1) Unsubecribe from any threads.
2) Unsubscribe from any email notifications at all.
3) Close your window or navigate to another site.

It's not a big deal.

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Ok guys, those were all helpful responses.
Cheers. :wink:

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Adding to Craven's post -

4) Sign out from that message board.

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Yeah, I know I'm still a "newbie" here, but all of the obvious steps that have been covered here to take were implied - I was wondering if there was a more technical/official way to remove yourself/your vital specs prior to leaving, but that's been addressed, thanks.

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All the answers that you received were good ones. I would just add that as a person that has run a small AnswerBoard in the past I can say that beyond requesting that they delete all of your account info there isn't a lot more that you can do. With the new spamming laws there are measures that you can take if you receive Spam e-mail from this site. But you are really at their mercy when it comes to having them remove all personal info.

If they don't have an intellectual property clause in their disclaimer you could argue that they would have to delete all of your posts. This gets into a touchy area though and you may not have much legal pull.

If you think it's worth it you can get a lawyer to send them a certified letter requesting that they remove all info. People usually take action when lawyers are involved.

This would be a drastic step though and I would recommend just walking away and be more cautous where you enter your personal information on the internet in the future.

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Well put, roverroad, I just need to "lurk" now beforehand & make sure I know what type of place I'm getting into... (no, I don't think it's worth going that far in this case, but point taken.)

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Useful info, thanks all...

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I would also suggest using a disposable e-mail addy for forums. If I sign up for one I usually use a hotmail account that I make just for that purpose. That way you don't have to worry about spam.

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Normally I would agree with you, jp, but some boards don't allow hotmail or yahoo emails addys. I just joined one, and they wanted a 'pay for' email addy from me. It's easier for me to use a hotmail or yahoo addy, because I'm on the net more away from home anywhere else.

So good point, but not always availalbe.

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Questions regarding leaving a forum (not this one)

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