Reddit Deleted Years of Chat History
Reddit users have noticed the site unexpectedly removed everyone’s chat history prior to January 1st of this year. Those asking why have been directed to a changelog update from June announcing feature updates to chats (via Mashable). The update’s headline didn’t say anything about data going away, and burying any reference to removal at the bottom with a vague, single line:
In an effort to have a smooth and quick transition to this new infrastructure, we will migrate chat messages sent from January 1, 2023 onward.
Older messages that are not migrated are effectively deleted.
I tested out the data export. The page gives you the option to initiate the request under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a pair of California regulations, or “Other.” I chose the third option and quickly received a file that appears to have my full history, though admittedly I didn’t make frequent use of the feature. But some users have said their downloads were missing chats.
Previously:
- Twitter Now Requires Logging In
- Reddit API AMA and User Revolt
- Apollo Shutting Down June 30th
- Reddit’s /r/Piracy is Deleting Almost 10 Years of History to Avoid Ban
