Asked Reddit support to give me API key so I can delete my data. They refused
Asked reddit support to give me API key so I can securely delete my data via ereddicator. I was honest, filling all the required fields, stating my purpose explicitly. Here's their response: We have reviewed your request for access. Unfortunately, we cannot grant approval because the submission is not in compliance with Reddit’s Responsible Builder Policy and/or lacks necessary details.
Discussion Highlights (9 comments)
DylanMerigaud
Interesting, thanks for sharing.
borplk
I guess you'll have to do it with browser automation. I assume that's possible?
copper-float
I'm very glad I wiped all my comments on Reddit before they became so stingy and idiotic about API keys. What a horrible company, can't wait until they go under.
BruceNCNP
Why doesn't deleting an account come with an option to wipe all personal data?
bbor
Their stance on APIs truly baffle me. Ok, I get it, you don't want people using an app without ads. And you, for some reason, think that trying to wall off the public commons from scientists and sell them snippets piecemeal is going to be a valid longterm strategy -- dumb, but coherent. But to spend buckets of money getting 3p devs to build stupid little games in-app while also actively banning the huge suite of tools that people actually care about because they can access your actual reddit data and do actual things... Just baffling. I blame the corrupting influence of YC, personally. And yes, their copy around basically everything is just insultingly, laughably bad. Presumably because they refuse to hire enough people to provide details with any sort of reliability.
dalekirkwood
I feel like Reddit has just become such a toxic place. Surely they have to comply with EU laws. They can't leave your data up without permission?
giglamesh
sincerely, Graham Platner
benoau
The best advice I've seen for conclusively deleting your account is to get it banned.
noman-land
I recommend writing a little bit of javascript you can paste into the browser console of your logged in session that will page through all your messages and delete them one by one, with a sensible delay to avoid rate limits. Then let it run overnight. No API needed. Other ideas include pulling the auth token from your logged in cookie and using it outside the browser. Don't forget to use a standard Chrome user agent.