Unfortunately, at the time of writing: 1. Users cannot delete their images on Lemmy 1. If a user deletes their account, their images don't get deleted 1. There is no WUI for admins to delete images on Lemmy 1. It is very difficult for admins to find & delete images on Lemmy (via the CLI) 1. The Lemmy team didn't bother documenting how admins can delete images on Lemmy Because of this, I'm posting here a guide for instance admins to be able to quickly figure out how to delete an image in response to a GDPR Data Erasure request. # How to purge images in Lemmy [pict-rs](https://git.asonix.dog/asonix/pict-rs/) is a third-party simple image hosting service that runs along-side Lemmy for instances that allow users to upload media. At the time of writing, [there is no WUI for admins to find and delete images](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/2360). You have to manually query the pict-rs database and execute an API call from the command-line. Worse: Lemmy has [no documentation](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-docs/issues/293) telling instance admins how to delete images 🤦 For the purposes of this example, let\'s assume you\'re trying to delete the following image ``` https://monero.town/pictrs/image/001665df-3b25-415f-8a59-3d836bb68dd1.webp ``` There are two [API endpoints in pict-rs](https://git.asonix.dog/asonix/pict-rs/) that can be used to delete an image ## Method One: /image/delete/{delete_token}/{alias} This API call is publicly-accessible, but it first requires you to obtain the image\'s \``delete_token`\` The \``delete_token`\` is first returned by Lemmy when POSTing to the \``/pictrs/image`\` endpoint ``` { "msg":"ok", "files":[ { "file":"001665df-3b25-415f-8a59-3d836bb68dd1.webp", "delete_token":"d88b7f32-a56f-4679-bd93-4f334764d381" } ] } ``` Two pieces of information are returned here: 1. **file** (aka the \"alias\") is the *server* filename of the uploaded image 2. **delete_token** is the token needed to delete the image Of course, if you didn\'t capture this image\'s \``delete_token`\` at upload-time, then you must fetch it from the postgres DB. First, open a shell on your running postgres container. If you installed Lemmy with docker compose, use \``docker compose ps`\` to get the \"SERVICE\" name of your postgres host, and then enter it with \``docker exec`\` ``` docker compose ps --format "table {{.Service}}\t{{.Image}}\t{{.Name}}" docker compose exec /bin/bash ``` For example: ``` user@host:/home/user/lemmy# docker compose ps --format "table {{.Service}}\t{{.Image}}\t{{.Name}}" SERVICE IMAGE NAME lemmy dessalines/lemmy:0.19.3 lemmy-lemmy-1 lemmy-ui dessalines/lemmy-ui:0.19.3 lemmy-lemmy-ui-1 pictrs docker.io/asonix/pictrs:0.5.4 lemmy-pictrs-1 postfix docker.io/mwader/postfix-relay lemmy-postfix-1 postgres docker.io/postgres:15-alpine lemmy-postgres-1 proxy docker.io/library/nginx lemmy-proxy-1 user@host:/home/user/lemmy# user@host:/home/user/lemmy# docker compose exec postgres /bin/bash postgres:/# ``` Connect to the database as the \``lemmy`\` user ``` psql -U lemmy ``` For example ``` postgres:/# psql -U lemmy psql (15.5) Type "help" for help. lemmy=# ``` Query for the image by the \"alias\" (the filename) ``` select * from image_upload where pictrs_alias = ''; ``` For example ``` lemmy=# select * from image_upload where pictrs_alias = '001665df-3b25-415f-8a59-3d836bb68dd1.webp'; local_user_id | pictrs_alias | pictrs_delete_token | published ---------------+--------------+---------------------+----------- 1149 | 001665df-3b25-415f-8a59-3d836bb68dd1.webp | d88b7f32-a56f-4679-bd93-4f334764d381 | 2024-02-07 11:10:17.158741+00 (1 row) lemmy=# ``` Now, take the \``pictrs_delete_token`\` from the above output, and use it to delete the image. The following command should be able to be run on any computer connected to the internet. ``` curl -i "https:///pictrs/image/delete//" ``` For example: ``` user@disp9140:~$ curl -i "https://monero.town/pictrs/image/delete/d88b7f32-a56f-4679-bd93-4f334764d381/001665df-3b25-415f-8a59-3d836bb68dd1.webp" HTTP/2 204 No Content server: nginx date: Fri, 09 Feb 2024 15:37:48 GMT vary: Origin, Access-Control-Request-Method, Access-Control-Request-Headers cache-control: private referrer-policy: same-origin x-content-type-options: nosniff x-frame-options: DENY x-xss-protection: 1; mode=block X-Firefox-Spdy: h2 user@disp9140:~$ ``` > ⓘ Note: If you get an \``incorrect_login`\` error, then try \[a\] logging into the instance in your web browser and then \[b\] pasting the \"`https:///pictrs/image/delete//`\" URL into your web browser. The image should be deleted. ## Method Two: /internal/purge?alias={alias} Alternatively, you could execute the deletion directly inside the pictrs container. This eliminates the need to fetch the \``delete_token`\`. First, open a shell on your running \``pictrs`\` container. If you installed Lemmy with docker compose, use \``docker compose ps`\` to get the \"SERVICE\" name of your postgres host, and then enter it with \``docker exec`\` ``` docker compose ps --format "table {{.Service}}\t{{.Image}}\t{{.Name}}" docker compose exec /bin/sh ``` For example: ``` user@host:/home/user/lemmy# docker compose ps --format "table {{.Service}}\t{{.Image}}\t{{.Name}}" SERVICE IMAGE NAME lemmy dessalines/lemmy:0.19.3 lemmy-lemmy-1 lemmy-ui dessalines/lemmy-ui:0.19.3 lemmy-lemmy-ui-1 pictrs docker.io/asonix/pictrs:0.5.4 lemmy-pictrs-1 postfix docker.io/mwader/postfix-relay lemmy-postfix-1 postgres docker.io/postgres:15-alpine lemmy-postgres-1 proxy docker.io/library/nginx lemmy-proxy-1 user@host:/home/user/lemmy# user@host:/home/user/lemmy# docker compose exec pictrs /bin/sh ~ $ ``` Execute the following command inside the \``pictrs`\` container. ``` wget --server-response --post-data "" --header "X-Api-Token: ${PICTRS__SERVER__API_KEY}" "http://127.0.0.1:8080/internal/purge?alias=" ``` For example: ``` ~ $ wget --server-response --post-data "" --header "X-Api-Token: ${PICTRS__SERVER__API_KEY}" "http://127.0.0.1:8080/internal/purge?alias=001665df-3b25-415f-8a59-3d836bb68dd1.webp" Connecting to 127.0.0.1:8080 (127.0.0.1:8080) HTTP/1.1 200 OK content-length: 67 connection: close content-type: application/json date: Wed, 14 Feb 2024 12:56:24 GMT saving to 'purge?alias=001665df-3b25-415f-8a59-3d836bb68dd1.webp' purge?alias=001665df 100% |*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************| 67 0:00:00 ETA 'purge?alias=001665df-3b25-415f-8a59-3d836bb68dd1.webp' saved ~ $ ``` > ⓘ Note: There\'s an error in the pict-rs reference documentation. It says you can POST to \`/internal/delete\`, but that just returns `404 Not Found`. The image should be deleted # Further Reading Unfortunately, it seems that the Lemmy develoeprs are not taking these moral and legal (GDPR) risks seriously (they [said](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/4433#issuecomment-1939172930) **it may take years before they address them**), and **they threatened to ban me** for trying to highlight the severity of this risk, get them to tag GDPR-related bugs, and to prioritize them. - [lemmy #4433: Deleted Account should delete uploaded media (pictures) too](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/4433) - [lemmy #4441: Users unable to delete their images (pictrs API)](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/4441) - [lemmy #4434: Unapproved users cannot delete their accounts/data](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/4434) - [lemmy #3973: Banned users cannot delete their accounts/data](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/3973) - [lemmy #4445: Create an interface for local users to view and remove images](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/4445) - [lemmy-ui #2359: Allow users to delete images they uploaded](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/2359) - [lemmy-ui #2360: Allow admins to view & delete uploaded images](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/2360) - [lemmy-ui #2361: private_message_disclaimer to include user\'s matrix handle](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/2361) - [jerboa #1361: UI for deleting uploaded files](https://github.com/dessalines/jerboa/issues/1361) - [jerboa #1362: Setting to hide \"upload media\" button](https://github.com/dessalines/jerboa/issues/1362) - [jerboa #1363: Add \"confirm upload\" step to UX](https://github.com/dessalines/jerboa/issues/1363) - [lemmy-docs #293: Document image moderation](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-docs/issues/293) If GDPR-compliance is important to you on the fediverse, then please provide feedback to the Lemmy developers in the GitHub links above. # Attribution This post was copied from the following article: [Nightmare on Lemmy Street (A Fediverse GDPR Horror Story)](https://tech.michaelaltfield.net/2024/03/04/lemmy-fediverse-gdpr/) | [![Nightmare on Lemmy St - A GDPR Horror Story](https://tech.michaelaltfield.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/lemmy-fediverse-gdpr_featuredImage2.jpg)](https://tech.michaelaltfield.net/2024/03/04/lemmy-fediverse-gdpr/) | |:--:| | [Nightmare on Lemmy Street (A Fediverse GDPR Horror Story)](https://tech.michaelaltfield.net/2024/03/04/lemmy-fediverse-gdpr/) | * https://tech.michaelaltfield.net/2024/03/04/lemmy-fediverse-gdpr/

PSA: you can't delete photos uploaded to #lemmy. So don't (accidentally) upload a nude to lemmy. That would be bad 😱

PSA: you can't delete photos uploaded to #lemmy. So don't (accidentally) upload a nude to lemmy. That would be bad 😱

Nightmare on Lemmy Street (A Fediverse GDPR Horror Story) - Michael Altfield's Tech Blog