Just in case you guys are wondering, there’s probably dozens of us enjoying the fuck out of this conversation. Thank you for asking questions I wouldn’t think of asking. On behalf of all three of us lurking.

I don't have the answer but I think of it like this.

Email is essentially a direct conversation between you and someone in the same room but you may extend (cc) to those people in the house. There is an implicit "I am including you in the conversation"

Lemmy on the other hand is more akin to talking to someone in a crowded bar but the conversation is recorded and anyone over the world has the ability to listen to the conversation at any given time.

Apples and oranges.

I really want to hear the answer to this

See https://gdpr-info.eu/issues/right-to-be-forgotten/

Once the "controller has made the personal data public", they have legal obligations. When you send an email, you are not making it public.

Essentially yes, it's called the Right to Erasure or the Right to be Forgotten. If the user is in a country that adheres to GDPR and the company controlling the data operates in a country that also uses GDPR, then that right applies.

The only reason Google/Gmail wouldnt delete (or wouldn't be able to delete) some of your data would be if they had a lawful or legitimate basis for holding onto it.

I can't think of a reason Google would give for hanging on to your data but that doesn't mean there isn't one, but they'd have to notify you of that reason as part of their response to your request.