I tried logging into Imgur recently, but they now block all UK traffic and redirect you to a GDPR deletion form, which I was happy to fill in.
Note that I was responding from the email registered to my account, and even though they could verify it, they still demanded:
- A description of any private images (I cannot recall, it’s a 10+ year old account I barely used)
- My last login location (no idea either as it was probably years ago. Was I on VPN?)
I made a real effort to answer, giving my best guesses for both, but their responses were consistently passive-aggressive, as if I was the one being unreasonable! And all that friction just for them to delete my email address and a couple of images that I may or may not have uploaded to Imgur over the last 10 years.
After going back and forth, they left me no choice but to file an ICO complaint.
Has anyone else experienced this with Imgur?
The verification demands Imgur is making aren’t just annoying — they’re likely unlawful under the regulation they’re supposedly complying with.
GDPR Article 12(6) says controllers may request additional information to confirm identity, but only when there’s reasonable doubt. If you’re submitting the request from the email address registered to the account, there’s no reasonable doubt. That’s the account holder. The password reset flow proves it.
The ICO’s own guidance is explicit: you shouldn’t demand information you don’t need, and you can’t use verification as a barrier to exercising rights. Asking for ‘last login location’ and ‘description of private images’ from a 10-year-old account isn’t identity verification — it’s friction engineering. The technical term is ‘sludge’: deliberately impossible requirements designed to make people give up.
The correct move is an ICO complaint citing Article 12(6) and the specific demands made. The ICO has been increasingly willing to act on this pattern. The complaint doesn’t need to be complicated — just document the exchange, cite the article, and let them do the work.
That seems unreasonable… proving ownership of the email address should be considered sufficient so ICO complaint it is.
Exactly. It’s like those creeps are obsessed with my data.
If it isn’t many images, couldn’t you just login on VPN (i think proton has free one) and delete images?
I did think of that, not to delete anything, just to check what’s actually there so I could answer their questions. But I’ve got a feeling if I try to bypass the UK block with a VPN, they’ll just hit me with even more obstacles.
Is there even any rules on VPNs? Wasn’t you just on holiday for a weekend?
It’s not that they don’t want from the UK, they just can’t be bothered to deal with the Online Safety Act.
I use imgur rarely, without account. Sharing images in sites like Lemmy, Mastodon, and other ActivityPub sites don’t need an image sharer, images can be uploaded directly or simply with copy paste. Hosting or backup images and any other files with Filen or Koofr, both 10 GB for free and from the EU (Germany and Slovenia)
