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I asked a question here about how to get data on my Q&A. The question was closed as being a duplicate of another question. That question is very different from mine, since it was asking for the full content of all the guy's Q&A and did not ask for data on views, votes, etc., whereas I did not ask for the content, but only the data on views, votes, answers accepted, questions closed, etc. So my question is quite the opposite of the other one.

However, that other question has an answer that MIGHT give me what I need. The answer by a user with the handle "user" said to use Stack Exchange's GDPR Data Access Request interface and make an "Export my data" request. The linked page has the title "Welcome to the Stack Exchange Privacy Webform!" and the drop-down of request types does not include a type "Export my data".

Can a request be submitted at that page that will be responded to with the data on my Q&A that does not include the Q&A content, but does include their URLs, views, votes, answers accepted, questions closed, etc. If yes, what request type should I select? If no, I will edit my question to show how different it is from the other one so it can be reopened.

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    Do you mean actions that you've taken, or the statistics of your own posts?
    – wizzwizz4
    Commented Nov 26, 2023 at 18:21
  • I do not mean actions I've taken, but data about questions I've asked and answers I've posted, including their URLs, number of views, votes, which answers were accepted, which questions were closed, etc.
    – NewSites
    Commented Nov 26, 2023 at 18:24
  • Well you're correct looks like they just removed that option. If it's not legal and against the GDPR law, someone can sew the company for that, i.e. not letting users download their data. However, the dupe still stands, the old request is for all content as well, fact it didn't get the answer you want doesn't really make a difference.
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Nov 26, 2023 at 18:34
  • @ShadowWizardIsSadAndAngry I don't think it's removed? It's just handled via onetrust.com now; are you allowing their JavaScript? Stack Exchange is under no obligation to provide an automated process, and their new system appears to give a lot more data than the old one.
    – wizzwizz4
    Commented Nov 26, 2023 at 18:35
  • @wizzwizz4 it's removed, there's no such option there anymore, and there used to be. Asking it in the free text form is sure way to have it ignored.
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Nov 27, 2023 at 7:51
  • @ShadowWizardIsSadAndAngry (a) It's illegal for them to ignore it; and (b) they have never ignored a request of mine. I think you're being a little too suspicious: past a certain point, your only evidence for "they haven't done this thing" is "I didn't expect it to happen, so never asked".
    – wizzwizz4
    Commented Nov 27, 2023 at 12:16

2 Answers 2

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Such a request can be submitted via the GDPR form, by explaining it in the freeform text box. Apparently they don't fulfil such requests, though: GDPR only obliges them to provide you with data about you, and data you have provided to them, and I guess this doesn't count as either.

Unless you need information about deleted posts, this information is available via Stack Exchange Data Explorer, which is updated every Sunday.

I've put together a query to give the information you asked for. You'll have to run it once for each network site, but that's not too hard. If you want it to provide different information, you can do that as well!

SELECT
  Id as [Post Link],
  ViewCount,
  Score,
  AnswerCount,
  AcceptedAnswerId as [Post Link],
  ClosedDate
FROM Posts
WHERE OwnerUserId = ##userid:int##
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  • I clicked on your link on "a query". It asked for my user ID. The only ID I have here is my e-address, so I entered that. It responded, "Expected value of userid to be a int!".
    – NewSites
    Commented Nov 26, 2023 at 19:10
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    @NewSites It's the number in your profile link. Your user ID on Meta Stack Exchange is 373133, and on Stack Overflow (the site that query's set up for by default) it's 5803910. Make sure you change the site to match the user ID you're using.
    – wizzwizz4
    Commented Nov 26, 2023 at 19:12
  • Okay, this won't work. There are too many sites to do that for. Plus, I'd like to get the data on deleted posts as well. So I'll go ahead and submit the GDPR form. Which request type should I use?
    – NewSites
    Commented Nov 26, 2023 at 19:42
  • @NewSites GDPR Data Access Request, same as you linked in your question. Make sure you list all the information you want: information represented directly by columns in the schema is easiest, so if you can restrict yourself to that I expect you'll get the data more quickly. A back-and-forth wastes everyone's time, so try to avoid it if you can. (And note that the company's allowed to charge for excessive requests, so don't abuse this service!)
    – wizzwizz4
    Commented Nov 26, 2023 at 19:55
  • I don't want to waste your time or mine. (a) That form asks for a request type. If you don't tell me what to select, I'll select "Access". (b) You suggested that I use columns in the schema. What schema? Please give me a link, and I'll use its column names. Thank you.
    – NewSites
    Commented Nov 26, 2023 at 20:09
  • The GDPR as implemented in the UK has a time limit for the organisation to respond, in this case one calendar month.
    – MT1
    Commented Nov 26, 2023 at 21:02
  • The contact address and email for the SO organisation in the UK is Privacy Officer, Bentima House, 168-172 Old Street, London EC1V 9BP, [email protected], phone: +44 (0) 20 3349 1000
    – MT1
    Commented Nov 26, 2023 at 21:04
  • @user10186832 “If your request is complex or you make more than one, the response time may be a maximum of three calendar months, starting from the day of receipt.” — if OP were asking for something more complex than just database columns (e.g. a list of all comments \@mentioning them), custom code might have to be written if the request hadn't been made before, and the law affords them time to do so. If you want a speedy response, keep it simple.
    – wizzwizz4
    Commented Nov 26, 2023 at 23:20
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    @NewSites Sorry, missed your comment. Yes, it's an Access request, and here's the SEDE schema (though you probably don't need to provide the same column names: just be aware that the information will be much harder to get if it can't just be read off a table).
    – wizzwizz4
    Commented Nov 27, 2023 at 0:10
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    @wizzwizz4 - It turns out that it is not correct that the data can be obtained by a GDPR request. I submitted the request and the response from the Stack Privacy Team was that they are unable to provide ANY of the requested statistical data on my posts, not even the number of views.
    – NewSites
    Commented Nov 30, 2023 at 6:51
  • @wizzwizz4 - Because people might read your answer and not this long stream of comments, perhaps you'd like to edit your answer to say the data cannot be obtained that way.
    – NewSites
    Commented Nov 30, 2023 at 6:58
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    @NewSites … Huh. I really thought you could! (I guess it makes sense: they're not strictly obliged to give you this information.) I think you should post a separate answer saying "no".
    – wizzwizz4
    Commented Nov 30, 2023 at 11:10
  • @wizzwizz4 - I've posted the answer you suggested. Thank you.
    – NewSites
    Commented Nov 30, 2023 at 22:39
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Sorry to say, the answer turns out to be No, these data are not available from a GDPR request, as also indicated by the edit in wizzwizz4's answer.

After some discussion and guidance in the comments on wizzwizz4's answer, I submitted a GDPR request and the response from the Stack Privacy Team was that they are unable to provide ANY of the requested statistical data on my posts, not even the number of views.

The Stack Privacy Team added that they are able to provide data on views I made of other people's posts, but that's not what I'm looking for. As stated in the title of the question, I'm looking for the stats on my posts.

I guess I'll have to look into wizzwizz4's suggested alternative of the Stack Exchange Data Explorer. The Stack Privacy Team also suggested another alternative of querying the public data dumps Stack Exchange does periodically, so I'll have to look into that too.

Bottom line, it looks like the data may be available, but it's going to take some work to dig them out.

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