How to ask someone to delete a post containing your personal information

ByEveryday Wording

Contact the person privately, identify the exact post and ask them to remove the specific information or delete the post. Give enough detail to locate it without repeating the information in a public comment.

Please delete the post you shared this morning. It includes my home address, and I don’t want that published.

If an edit would meet your request, name it clearly:

Your event post includes my personal phone number. Please remove the number from the post and any image showing it, or take the post down.

If you want the whole post removed, avoid offering an edit that would leave you uncomfortable:

I’m asking you to delete the whole update about my family situation. Please don’t replace it with a shorter version or a new post about why it came down.

The immediate task is to change an existing post. You can discuss why it happened or how to handle private information later. Start with what is visible now and the action you want the poster to take.

Contents

Identify the post without spreading the information

Use an existing private contact route

If you can message the person directly, start there. A public comment explaining exactly which information is private can point more readers towards it. You can be direct without announcing the details to the same audience.

I’ve sent you a private message about your reunion post. Please read it before sharing the post anywhere else.

That public-facing message may be useful if you need to draw attention to a missed private message, but keep the actual information out of it. Do not ask mutual friends to circulate screenshots in order to support your request.

In the private conversation, identify the date, occasion or heading:

I mean the post headed “Saturday arrangements”, shared yesterday evening. The last paragraph contains information about me that I want removed.

If there are several posts, send the link to the one you mean. Avoid copying personal details into several new messages when the existing post is already easy to locate.

Describe the field rather than retyping it

The person may need to know which part is the problem. “My address”, “my number” or “the sentence about my plans” can be enough. You do not usually need to type the full information again.

Please remove the line with my address beneath the meeting details. I’m not repeating it here, but it’s the address next to my name.

If the information appears in an attached photograph or screenshot, mention that too. The poster may edit the caption and overlook the image below it.

The screenshot attached to your post shows my number as well. Please remove that image, not just the number in the caption.

Be clear about which person you are referring to if several people are named. The goal is an understandable request, not a hint that requires the poster to inspect everything and guess.

State the concern without giving a longer account

You can say that the information is personal and you do not want it published. You do not have to explain every reason it matters before asking for action.

I shared that update with you privately. I don’t want it on your page, so please take the post down.

If the person misunderstood what you were comfortable sharing, you can acknowledge that possibility without withdrawing your request.

You may not have realised I was keeping those details private. Please remove them from the post now that I’ve let you know.

A fundraising page may also present your name as support you never agreed to give. Asking for your name to be removed from an unagreed fundraiser focuses on correcting that association without making claims about the wider appeal.

Choose deletion or a specific edit

Decide what would actually resolve the request

An edit may work when one clearly separable detail has been included in an otherwise ordinary event post. Deletion may fit when the whole post concerns information you did not want shared. Ask for the outcome you mean.

The picnic invitation can stay, but please remove my personal number and put the group contact address in its place.

Only suggest a replacement contact route that is yours to offer or already agreed for that use. Do not solve unwanted sharing of your details by volunteering someone else’s.

If the information runs through the whole post, say that a narrow edit is not what you are asking for:

My private update is the subject of the whole post. Please delete it rather than editing a few names out.

Include the accompanying image or caption

Personal information can appear in more than one part of a post. A caption, image and reply written by the poster may each contain something you want removed. Identify the actual places you have seen.

Please remove the photograph of the invitation as well as the address in your caption. The invitation shows the same information.

Do not turn this into a demand for proof about every possible copy. Keep the request tied to the post and visible versions you can identify.

If a person offers to make the audience smaller, answer whether that fits your preference:

Changing the audience isn’t what I’m asking for. Please remove the personal details from the post itself.

You can appreciate an attempted change while explaining why it does not meet your request. That is more useful than saying “you know what I mean” when the person may genuinely think they have resolved it.

Clarify whether reposting a summary would be acceptable

Someone may delete the original and then publish an explanation that repeats the information. If that is a concern, include a short request about replacement wording.

Please don’t post an explanation of what you removed. I’d prefer that the details weren’t discussed again at all.

If a general logistical update would work, offer only the public information that is actually needed:

You can say that the meeting location has changed and ask people to contact the organiser. Please leave my address out of that update.

The useful alternative is a way to communicate the event information without your personal details. You do not need to provide a substitute story about your private circumstances.

Respond to explanations and disagreement

Separate intention from the current post

“I was only trying to help” may explain why the person posted. It does not decide what happens next. Acknowledge the intention if you believe it, then return to the action.

I understand that you were trying to organise the day. I still need my personal number removed from the public post.

If they say they were proud, worried or excited on your behalf, you can respond to the care without approving the sharing.

I appreciate that you care. I’m not ready for that family news to be posted, so please delete the update.

Do not make the deletion depend on settling every disagreement about who meant what. The broader conversation can wait until the visible information has been addressed.

Answer “you already told people”

Sharing information with one person or a small circle does not explain what you want on someone’s page. State the actual difference rather than arguing about whether the information counts as secret.

I told a few relatives directly. I haven’t agreed to a post about it, and I’m asking you to remove yours.

You can also clarify when one public detail has been combined with information you shared privately.

The event date is public. The paragraph about my personal circumstances isn’t something I want included, so please remove it.

The poster may believe they have merely assembled facts people could find elsewhere. Keep your request specific to the post they control, rather than trying to prove what every reader already knew.

Avoid being drawn into an audience debate

They might say that few people saw the post or that all their followers are friends. You do not need to estimate its reach to make your preference clear.

I don’t know who has seen it. I’m asking for it to come down rather than discussing whether the audience is small enough.

If the person says you are overreacting, resist supplying increasingly personal explanations in order to make your request seem reasonable.

You don’t have to feel the same way about the information. Please remove it from your post.

After a refusal, say what remains unresolved. Repeating the same argument with more detail can leave you sharing even more than you wanted to in the first place.

Check the change and follow up precisely

Ask for a narrow confirmation

A practical confirmation is “I’ve deleted the post” or “I’ve removed the number from the caption and image”. You are asking what the person has changed, not asking them to guarantee that no reader remembers anything.

Please let me know when the post has been deleted so I can check the page again.

If you can still see something, identify it without accusing the person of pretending to act.

The address is gone from the caption, thank you. It’s still visible in the second image. Could you remove that image too?

A clear follow-up is particularly useful when the poster has changed several things and missed one. Give them the specific remaining action instead of restarting the entire disagreement.

Follow up according to the response you have actually had

If the first message went unanswered, ask whether they have seen it. If they promised to act, refer to that promise. If they refused, do not write as though an agreement has been made.

Have you seen my message about this morning’s post? My details are still visible, and I’m asking you to remove them.

You said you would delete the update after lunch. It’s still on your page this evening—could you check the post I linked?

An actual reason for timing can be stated simply. For example, the post may be about to be forwarded to a wider community group. Say what is happening rather than inventing a dramatic consequence.

Before you send that post to the full reunion group, please remove the paragraph about me. I don’t want it circulated there.

Keep other visible copies distinct

If you find another version posted by the same person, identify it separately. Removing one post does not tell you what happened to a different upload.

The original post is down now. I can still see the same screenshot in your other update from Tuesday. Please remove that copy as well.

If another person has independently shared the information, do not tell the original poster that changing their own post will erase every version. You can make separate requests about the copies you actually see.

When the immediate request has been met, acknowledge the exact action:

Thank you for deleting the post and the attached screenshot. That addresses the material I asked you to remove from your page.

Set a clear expectation for future posts

Say what you want checked first

After the immediate change, explain the future habit that would help. “Be more careful” is broad. “Ask before posting my personal news or contact details” gives the person something concrete to do.

Please check with me before putting my contact details or personal news in a post. If I haven’t answered, leave those details out.

You can name a recurring misunderstanding, such as treating a private family message as material for a public update.

Updates I send in the family chat aren’t announcements for your page. Please ask me separately before sharing them there.

If the issue started with your phone number being passed around privately, asking a friend not to give out your phone number addresses that earlier sharing habit. An existing post still needs its own removal or editing request.

Keep image removal specific when that is the issue

An unwanted photograph and unwanted text may need different changes. If you want a photo removed because you dislike being shown, asking someone to remove an unflattering photo focuses on identifying the image and choosing an acceptable alternative. Do not describe removing a tag as enough when the image or visible information is what you want taken down.

Personalise the request with the exact post and the change you want. Keep private explanations out of public replies, and avoid adding details merely to make the message sound more persuasive. The clearest message tells the poster where to look, what to remove and what confirmation would help.

Frequently asked questions

Should I post a correction underneath?

If the information is personal rather than simply inaccurate, repeating it in a correction may draw more attention to it. Start with a private request about the actual post where you have a contact route. If you need to prompt the person publicly, you can refer to your private message without naming the information itself.

What if the information is accurate?

Your request can be about publication, not whether a fact is true. Explain that you do not want the details in their post and specify the change you want. You do not have to invent an error to ask for removal, and arguing about accuracy can distract from the request you are actually making.

Do I need a long explanation?

Usually the information type, the post and the requested action are enough to begin. You can share more if it helps and you want to, but do not feel obliged to put a full personal history into the deletion request. A concise message is easier to act on and creates fewer extra details for discussion.

What if the person says it has already been shared elsewhere?

Ask them to change the version they posted. Avoid describing that as a complete erasure of all copies, but do not let an unknown number of other versions obscure the identifiable post in front of you. You can address other visible copies separately without asking this person to make promises about them.

How do I end a circular conversation?

Restate the unresolved action once and stop supplying new private explanations. If they have refused, recognise that a request has not become an agreement. You can decide separately what contact or sharing you want with that person in future, rather than promising an outcome you do not control.

Everyday Wording uses AI-assisted drafting and editorial review. Read our editorial policy for how we create and review our guides.

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