Currently, I feel that the ability to delete things such as accessories, gear, and other such items is a bit of an issue. Right now, if someone happens to get in your account, they have the ability to quite a bit of damage.
One of those steps may be to delete your items, such as accessories, gear, and faces. While it’s possible to get back items they’ve traded away over time, such as limited items, what happens if they delete things such as event items, or items which were in the catalog for a limited time?
They’re kind of just gone. You can use your one time recovery, but depending on the amount of damage done they may not recover everything. There’s also hoping they go limited, but for quite a few items, that will likely either never happen, or may take years to do so.
The only downside I can really think of is the inconvenience of no longer being able to delete unwanted items to keep your inventory clean. Some people delete hats they no longer need and may keep around the small amount they really use, such as a signature outfit. While it may be a bit of an annoyance, I feel that issue is worth preventing damage done by mischievous people.
Edit: While hearing feedback of this post, another idea has come to mind. Why not replace the delete button with a “Hide” button? Hiding an item would prevent it from being visible from your avatar page, allowing users to sift out items they don’t want from their inventory, while preventing anything that may be considered permanent.
This would be a feature I feel would be beneficial to both people who don’t wish to have their items at risk of anyone who happens to get in to your account, while also allowing people who would normally delete items to sort their inventory to keep their inventory free of unwanted items.