---
schema_version: "1"
id: b34e858369f91a238d6c053681e23e867768bb79bb65a1b295e03f47cd7dc5e4
title: Data Deletion for Experience Cloud Sites
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/xcloud/264-0-0/data_deletion_communities.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=xcloud.data_deletion_communities.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: a7a5b5611135dc1440d304f5ed76c6752d14819baab07e002a7459574ed82576
description: Sometimes it’s necessary to delete a customer’s personal data to comply with various data protection and privacy regulations. We give you examples of common requests and things to consider, so you can comply with the regulations that apply to you.
products:
  - Security
  - Cross Cloud
release: "264"
---
# Data Deletion for Experience Cloud Sites

Sometimes it’s necessary to delete a customer’s personal data to comply with various data protection and privacy regulations. We give you examples of common requests and things to consider, so you can comply with the regulations that apply to you.

### Required Editions

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small edition"><colgroup><col></colgroup><tbody><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: All Editions</td></tr></tbody></table>

![Note](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-xcloud-data_protection_and_privacy-264-0-0-production-enus/27d1bf87-a47b-491a-8339-f53ef6540aec/images/icon_note.png)

Note Beginning in Summer ’26, Chatter is turned off by default in all new orgs. For any features in these orgs that require access to Chatter functionality or the Chatter APIs, turn on Chatter by going to **Setup** | **Chatter Settings** and selecting **Enable**. For details, see [Chatter Is Turned Off by Default in New Orgs Beginning in Summer ’26](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=experience.collab_chatter_default_off.htm&type=5&language=en_US).

Many data protection and privacy regulations can require you to delete customers’ personal data when customers request it, or when it’s no longer necessary to keep it. We’ve listed a few of the regulations that are important to many companies collecting and processing their customers’ data.

- General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), European Union
- Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), Japan
- Privacy Act, Australia

If you have customers or users who want the data that you’ve collected on them deleted, review these common requests and the procedures related to them.

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small ">
      <colgroup>
        <col style="width:33.33333333333333%">
        <col style="width:33.33333333333333%">
        <col style="width:33.33333333333333%">
      </colgroup>
      <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
        <tr class="">
          <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d13401e92">Common Customer Request</th>
          <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d13401e95">Actions to Consider</th>
          <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d13401e98">Things to Consider</th>
        </tr>
      </thead>
      <tbody>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Common Customer Request" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e92 ">My customer wants her Chatter feed activities, such as bookmarks, comments, and
            votes, removed from a site .</td>

          <td data-label="Actions to Consider" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e95 ">
            <ul>
              <li>Purge activities via <a href="https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.chatterapi.meta/chatterapi/connect_resources_users_UserActivities_purge.htm" target="_blank">User
                  Activity, Purge</a> and <a href="https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.chatterapi.meta/chatterapi/connect_resources_missions_user_activities_purge.htm" target="_blank">Missions User Activity, Purge</a>.</li>

              <li>Find and delete feed elements and comments via Connect REST API.</li>

              <li>Maintain answer verifications and remove identifying information associated with
                them via <a href="https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.chatterapi.meta/chatterapi/connect_resources_comments_capability_verified.htm" target="_blank">Comment Capability, Verified</a>.</li>

            </ul>
          </td>

          <td data-label="Things to Consider" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e98 ">
            <ul>
              <li>Will your customer agree to preserving Chatter feed activities in the site if
                her identifying information has been removed from them?</li>

              <li>Is there any data that you have the right to retain?</li>

            </ul>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Common Customer Request" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e92 ">My customer wants his files and content folders to be deleted.</td>

          <td data-label="Actions to Consider" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e95 ">Find and delete the content and content folders via SOAP API.</td>

          <td data-label="Things to Consider" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e98 ">
            <ul>
              <li>Does the customer know how to make this request?</li>

              <li>Is there any data that you have the right to retain? Review the terms of service
                with the customer.</li>

              <li>Is the customer aware that his data is lost after it’s deleted?</li>

              <li>Are there other places in the site where your customer might have stored this
                data?</li>

            </ul>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Common Customer Request" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e92 ">A customer wants us to remove her Chatter posts from a group.</td>

          <td data-label="Actions to Consider" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e95 ">
            <ul>
              <li>Find and delete feed elements and feed comments via Connect REST API.</li>

              <li>Remove and change personally identifying information in the user’s profile.</li>

            </ul>
          </td>

          <td data-label="Things to Consider" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e98 ">
            <ul>
              <li>Do you want to delete all the customer’s posts?</li>

              <li>Are you legally required to remove their posts? Review the terms of service with
                the customer.</li>

            </ul>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Common Customer Request" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e92 ">My customer wants his identifying information removed from posts in a
            site.</td>

          <td data-label="Actions to Consider" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e95 ">
            <ul>
              <li>Remove and change personally identifying information in the user’s profile.</li>

              <li>Find and delete identifying content in posts via Connect REST API.</li>

              <li>Find and delete feed tracked changes that contain personally identifying
                information via SOAP API.</li>

            </ul>
          </td>

          <td data-label="Things to Consider" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e98 ">
            <ul>
              <li>Consider other ways that this customer's personal information might be revealed
                in Chatter posts.</li>

              <li>Search free-text fields for personally identifying information.</li>

              <li>Search feed-tracked changes for personally identifying information.</li>

            </ul>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Common Customer Request" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e92 ">My customer shared personal information in a Chatter post. How do we remove
            it?</td>

          <td data-label="Actions to Consider" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e95 ">
            <ul>
              <li>Find and delete posts via Connect REST API.</li>

              <li>Update the post via SOAP API.</li>

            </ul>
          </td>

          <td data-label="Things to Consider" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e98 ">Does the user have permission to edit and delete posts?</td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Common Customer Request" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e92 ">My customer wants her information withheld from posts that she’s flagged.</td>

          <td data-label="Actions to Consider" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e95 ">Find and delete records for the userId via SOAP API.</td>

          <td data-label="Things to Consider" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e98 ">
            <ul>
              <li>Does the customer know how to make this request?</li>

              <li>Is there any data that you have the right to retain? Review the terms of service
                with the customer.</li>

              <li>Is the customer aware that her data is lost after it’s deleted?</li>

              <li>Are there other places that this data is stored? Search and identify all the
                places where data might be stored.</li>

            </ul>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Common Customer Request" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e92 ">My customer requests that his phone number and email address be removed from a
            Chatter message.</td>

          <td data-label="Actions to Consider" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e95 ">
            <ul>
              <li>A user with Manage Chatter Messages permission on the org can:<ul>
                  <li>Delete the message using the ChatterMessage sObject delete() method.</li>
                  <li>Update the message body using the ChatterMessage sObject update() method,
                    redacting the user's personal information.</li>
                </ul>
              </li>

              <li>In a community, the user requesting to be forgotten can flag the message. Then a
                user with Moderate Chatter Messages permission can use moderation to delete the
                flagged message.</li>

            </ul>
          </td>

          <td data-label="Things to Consider" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e98 ">
            <ul>
              <li>Will your customer agree to preserving Chatter feed activities in the site if
                his identifying information has been removed from them?</li>

              <li>Is there any data that you have the right to retain? Review the terms of service
                with the customer.</li>

              <li>Is the customer aware that his data is lost after it’s deleted?</li>

              <li>Are there other places in the site where your customer might have stored this
                data? Search and identify all the places where data might be stored.</li>

            </ul>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Common Customer Request" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e92 ">A customer asks that all her direct messages be removed.</td>

          <td data-label="Actions to Consider" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e95 ">
            <ul>
              <li>Find and delete feed elements and feed comments via Connect REST API.</li>

              <li>In a community, the user can flag message posts or comments. Then a user with
                the Moderate Chatter Messages permission can use moderation to delete the flagged
                message.</li>

            </ul>
          </td>

          <td data-label="Things to Consider" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13401e98 ">
            <ul>
              <li>Will your customer agree to preserving Chatter feed activities in the site if
                her identifying information has been removed from them?</li>

              <li>Is there any data that you have the right to retain? Review the terms of service
                with the customer.</li>

              <li>Is the customer aware that her data is lost after it’s deleted?</li>

              <li>Are there other places in the site where your customer might have stored this
                data? Search and identify all the places where data might be stored.</li>

            </ul>
          </td>

        </tr>
      </tbody>
    </table>