Should an outdated answer be reported as a violation if the information is no longer correct?

If answers containing outdated information are now in violation, every longtime answerer in this category would be 'guilty' because the site itself has changed so much over the years.

'Incorrect' is not, and never has been, a valid reason to report. Since you've noticed somewhat of a pattern in which of your old answers are being reported, you should probably 'heads up' the Answers Team whether you win the appeals or not -- it's not likely coincidence if it's happened more than once or twice. I wouldn't even bother with Customer Care.

Giving an "incorrect" answer isn't a violation and staff have confirmed that in the past as well.

So even apart from the fact that it was correct at the time of placing it and that you can't delete an answer on an old question which has a Best Answer, then no, the fact that things have changed in the interim period would not "make" an answer a violation

I understand the argument about how old information in principle isn't handy and could be removed so that only updated info remains but that is hardly feasible e.g. think how many questions there have been about how to ask a question, award a Best Answer, delete a question etc and that in the last year alone this has changed numerous times. If the information needs to be removed then it should be staff that remove it and it should not penalise the user concerned.

Staff DO have the option to remove content without a penalty. I asked for an answer to be removed in 2013 and I just checked my mail and have the notice still there and if staff remove it without a penalty then it is a "Content Removal Notice Email"

===========================================================

"Hello <name>

We have received your request to remove the following content from Answers:

Question: <Title of question>

Deleted Answer:<Content of answer>

At your request, we have removed your content as it appears to contain personally identifying information.

===========================================================

It was not due to personally identifying info but for another reason (but I guess it's a default reason) and I did not lose 10 points either so I assume it did not count against my account on that basis either.

If I were you then I would appeal all of those with Customer Care in the normal manner and be polite but persevere with it. If they deny the appeal then I would then email YAT next week and ask for a clarification.

Unless things have changed without any notification then incorrect information isn't a violation.

I haven't had any violations for it myself but last year I did have an email from YAT asking to please stop posting their email address for "how can I delete my question" questions so if there is a problem I would have thought they would have contacted you proactively

Are you getting "Violation Notices" or "Your answer has been reported by the community" mails?

No, not if you answered in good faith and did your best to give info that was accurate for the time you gave it. How could you, or anyone for that matter, be responsible for future changes to YA, especially since they sometimes make changes without even telling us? Besides, I thought it wasn't a violation to give out incorrect info unless it could be proven it was being done on purpose and repeatedly. There are some users on here who still tell others that we can delete answered questions and even though that info is incorrect I never report them for it, at most I'll just leave a comment updating them.

My impression is that you have a stalker who is trying anything he or she can to bring you down, but even if it's an honest mistake (doubtful in my opinion) you should still appeal them. Fortunately, you of all people know how to fight back and win and you certainly deserve to win. Good luck.

You have an open profile, so it could be a stalker or an honest mistake by someone using Google. It's hard to say which one. And the appeal links are usually broken, or appeals are completely ignored, or bogus violations are upheld.

One of my favorite bogus violations was "non-commercial personal website promotion" when I included a link to a history article on Wikipedia in the source box. I neither own nor contribute to Wiki and have only mentioned the site 2-3 times all my answers.

I would contact customer care directly and have them look into it.

If being incorrect is a violation, we're all in big trouble. It's best to refrain from caring about the actions of people with nothing better to do than report old answers.

In my opinion, that information applied to the answer then, should not be viewed as a reportable answer. There are many answers that since 2006 up till now that are outdated in information, especially those that deal with Yahoo itself. Yahoo Answers is ongoing so if a user needs to check information they have the option of asking a question for the current information, or asking if that information given years ago still applies to Yahoo now.

No, of course not.

As a very responsible user, one should not be expected to predict the future, nor to be penalized for giving accurate information.

If the Y!A Appeals system worked properly there would be no question of these false violations being overturned!!!

This appears to be a very clear case of stalking, which should be registered as a complaint via Y!A Team mail.

Pretty sure you know the address!!

Although there is no time limitations on reporting I have always believed that even if you give an incorrect answer but made the effort to answer the Question it wasn't a violation.

Recently however I believe the answer team will delete them and will reject an appeal. (from experience lately)

Chetak

Not just because the information is outdated. Only outright lies should be reported for being incorrect.

You could argue that answers which give the wrong phone number for customer care ought to be removed from the site, as anyone who searches for that number and find them is going to be misled. They may not be a technical violation - but they do need to be removed.