Managing User Data Deletion in Mixpanel with Segment.io Integration
How Mixpanel is managing the USer data deletion when the main data source is from a CDP Segment.io ?
How Mixpanel is managing the USer data deletion when the main data source is from a CDP Segment.io ?
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When Segment is your main data source, Mixpanel still manages user-data deletion entirely on the Mixpanel side; Segment is just a data source and is not involved in executing deletions inside Mixpanel.From the docs, Mixpanel supports two main mechanisms for deleting end‑user data, regardless of how it was originally ingested (SDK, Segment, other CDP, etc.): 1. GDPR/CCPA Deletion by distinct_id (End User Data Management tools)
- You (Org Owner/Admin) submit deletion requests in Mixpanel via:
- The Data & Privacy UI, or
- The GDPR/CCPA Deletion API using an OAuth token.
- Deletion is done per distinct_id and removes all data associated with that distinct_id from the chosen project. [End user data mgmt; Privacy overview]
- These tools work for any data in the project, including data that originally came from Segment. [End user data mgmt]2. Project‑wide Event Deletion / Data Deletion Tool (by event & property filters)
- Separately from user-centric GDPR/CCPA deletion, Mixpanel has a Data Deletion feature to delete problematic event data (e.g., PII in a property, bot traffic, bad timestamps, duplicates). [Data clean‑up]
- This is applied at the project level using filters on events/properties, not on distinct_id; it permanently deletes matching events from Mixpanel’s servers. [Data clean‑up]
- It’s recommended for things like spam/bot events, duplicates, or accidentally ingested sensitive data. [Data clean‑up]**Key points relative to Segment as the CDP:**- Mixpanel’s deletion behavior does not change when data is ingested via Segment; deletions are based on Mixpanel’s own identifiers (distinct_id and event properties) and apply to whatever data is stored in the project. [End user data mgmt]
- For GDPR/CCPA requests, you must supply the correct distinct_id used in Mixpanel; Segment’s user IDs typically become distinct_id in Mixpanel via the Segment → Mixpanel destination mapping. [Segment integration; User profiles FAQ]
- Mixpanel also provides a Deletion API (GDPR API) that can be called programmatically to delete per‑user data. [Privacy overview; GDPR compliance] What the docs don’t specify: - There is no explicit documentation in these sources about Mixpanel notifying Segment or propagating deletions back to Segment or other downstream tools. The materials here only describe deletion inside Mixpanel. So if you must also delete data in Segment, you would need to manage that separately on the Segment side.
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