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Yahoo Messenger was was discontinued on December 1, 2018. On this date downloading of chat history was stopped. However they did not tell their users what happened to their data associated with Yahoo Messenger including history and friends list. According to the gdpr it should be permanently destroyed if it is no longer needed. But I don't know for sure if they destroyed it because they have not said. Even if I demand that my data be destroyed, their is still the question of what will happen to all the messages I sent to other people that are part of their history, and their data, not mine. How can I enforce my rights with Yahoo, given that the gdpr law allows me to erase my own data not other peoples? See also: Facebook vs GDPR - Private Messages I sent to others will never be deleted/erased from Facebook servers

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According to the gdpr it should be permanently destroyed if it is no longer needed.

But your data could be needed for some legal purposes even after the service is discontinued.

But I don't know for sure if they destroyed it because they have not said.

You should contact their Data Protection Officer and ask about it. They have a legal obligation (if they fall under GDPR) to answer your questions and to state how long they will store your personal data and for what reason.

Even if I demand that my data be destroyed, their is still the question of what will happen to all the messages I sent to other people that are part of their history, and their data, not mine.

Probably all your messages that are in possession of whoever owns now Yahoo databases will be erased.

How can I enforce my rights with Yahoo, given that the gdpr law allows me to erase my own data not other peoples?

Anything that resides in Yahoo databases belongs to Yahoo - not to you and not to other people. If you order Yahoo to erase your personal data and you have a legal basis to make such demands, then they have to erase your personal data. Probably, they will take a shortcut and erase all your messages data because there is no easy way to filter personal information from chat history. Also, there is nothing that could stop them from erasing anyone else personal data and non-personal data in one sweep.

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  • Would all of this still be true even if I don't give Yahoo my handle (I forgot the password)
    – Un1000
    Jan 17, 2019 at 7:18
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    "Anything that resides in Yahoo databases belongs to Yahoo" -- well, yes it does, but they still have to respect individuals' rights over data which identifies them. Yahoo do fall under GDPR because they operate in the EU (from Dublin as part of Oath).
    – Andrew Leach
    Feb 15, 2019 at 22:34

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