[mike_d]

> Just look at the disastrous mess of his half-baked "opt-out" thing that flagrantly violates GDPR

Pushshift collects data from Reddit using the same API as the mobile app and public site. It does not have any privileged access to the Reddit database, nor is it collecting any PII that would be subject to GDPR.

You as a user grant a pretty broad license to Reddit when you post content. One of the things the license allows them to do is redistribute the content to other users as well as search indexes and things like the Wayback Machine or Pushshift.

(While I did work for Reddit at one point, these opinions are my own)

[ad_hominem]

> nor is it collecting any PII that would be subject to GDPR

Yeah that's not how that works. Reddit is a free text input interface. I'm free to put PII in any post or comment I want to and you have to comply with data protection laws accordingly if I want my information redacted later on.

The same way you wouldn't just "let it ride" if someone uploaded illegal content - the content itself is what's protected, doesn't matter how Reddit structures its web forms.

[mike_d]

That has already been hashed out in the European courts. The processor of the data needs to have a reasonable way of establishing that the data belongs to a identifiable natural person.

But by all means, if you disagree feel free to report Pushshift to the EU regulators. As far as I know Pushshift is based in the US and has no presence to establish a nexus to EU law.