How do I get rid of a Facebook account?

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Just found out that I have a dormant facebook account. No idea why I have it, and certainly don't want it.
Trawling the interweb it seems that I can't get rid of it without reactivating it, then instructions become somewhat confused with some opinions saying that I'm stuck with it for life:eek: Facebook's help pages tell me nothing, but then they wouldn't would they? The only way to contact them is to reactivate the account. Bit of a Catch22 situation.
I have no idea when or for what I last used it, but the only way to find out is to reactivate it. I don't want to do that for obvious reasons.
Under the Right to be Forgotten can I ask Facebook to totally delete what (it must be minimal) data or other information they have on me, and if so how do I do it?
I just want to get away from the smarmy, smiling, obsequious Zuckerberg and his plan for world domination!
 
According to this it should get deleted 14 days after deactivation ( unless signed back into it in the 14 day period.

  1. Log in to Facebook.
  2. Click the Privacy button in the top-right (the icon is shaped like a padlock) and choose See More Settings.
  3. Click Security
  4. Click Deactivate Your Account.
  5. Choose a reason for leaving from using the checkbox list
  6. Click the checkbox next to Opt out of receiving future emails from Facebook.
  7. Click Confirm
  8. Enter your password and click Deactivate Now.
  9. And that is your Facebook account deleted. Or at least it will be deleted in 14 days time.
 
That seems to be confusing deactivate and delete.
My account is deactivated and must have been so for years but it isn't deleted.
 
According to this it should get deleted 14 days after deactivation ( unless signed back into it in the 14 day period.

  1. Log in to Facebook.
  2. Click the Privacy button in the top-right (the icon is shaped like a padlock) and choose See More Settings.
  3. Click Security
  4. Click Deactivate Your Account.
  5. Choose a reason for leaving from using the checkbox list
  6. Click the checkbox next to Opt out of receiving future emails from Facebook.
  7. Click Confirm
  8. Enter your password and click Deactivate Now.
  9. And that is your Facebook account deleted. Or at least it will be deleted in 14 days time.


That's fine BUT, 1 needs me to remember the password I set it up with and the only way I could get that (forgotten) password is to have a reset sent to the e-mail address I set it up with. That e-mail address is (or was!) an fsnet one which is no longer accessible.

Not that there's any real information in my profile - only signed in to see someone's wedding photos (and they were crap anyway!)
 
That's a very good point my man!
I have no idea what info I used to set the thing up.
I'm trying to pluck up the courage to go back into it because if I can't remember all my details it will start whirring away again.
Hoist by my own petard.
 
Given recent facebook issues I would just get in touch with facebook directly and ask them to delete it. They might be more amenable than you would think
 
Given recent facebook issues I would just get in touch with facebook directly and ask them to delete it. They might be more amenable than you would think
Thanks Chris. I'd thought of that but am wary of their less than friendly reputation. Might try that if all else fails.
 
You can delete an account or just deactivate it. Deactivating it makes it inactive but retains all the data.
To delete it you will need to reactivate it, then you can delete it.

It won’t delete immediately, but will in 14 days as long as you don’t log in again.

I guess it’s their way of giving you a second chance should you change you mind and a way of keeping you active.

Once you’ve opted to delete the account do not login or you will have to start the process again.
 
@Nod
I've just done it. There is a direct link in the link mentioned in post #2 from @AndrewFlannigan
It had remembered all my log in details so I just logged in. When I logged in I was right on the delete page. I just clicked the Delete button and that was it.
Just had an e-mail from them giving me the usual 14 day notice, so as long as I can resist the temptation (I have done for years now!) everything will be gone before the end of the month.

Very easy.
 
@Nod
I've just done it. There is a direct link in the link mentioned in post #2 from @AndrewFlannigan
It had remembered all my log in details so I just logged in. When I logged in I was right on the delete page. I just clicked the Delete button and that was it.
Just had an e-mail from them giving me the usual 14 day notice, so as long as I can resist the temptation (I have done for years now!) everything will be gone before the end of the month.Very easy.
Well done! And if you get the urge to keep up with friends and family, one of the other, non-invasive networks will give you a much better experience. Take a look at Friendica, SocialHome, Disapora, Hubzilla, Mastodon etc. No ads. no news, no click bait, no big business causing the inevitable problems. But most importantly, friends and family don't even have to join the same network as you. They are all cross compatible, just like email, but very unlike Facebook. Who threaten to cut people off from their contacts if they leave. These others don't do that.
See https://the-federation.info
 
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Well done! And if you get the urge to keep up with friends and family, one of the other, non-invasive networks will give you a much better experience. Take a look at Friendica, SocialHome, Disapora, Hubzilla, Mastodon etc. No ads. no news, no click bait, no big business causing the inevitable problems. But most importantly, friends and family don't even have to join the same network as you. They are all cross compatible, just like email, but very unlike Facebook. Who threaten to cut people off from their contacts if they leave. These others don't do that.
See https://the-federation.info
Thank you. So far I've resisited the temptation to log in. It's damned hard; nearly every site these days asks if I want to log in via Facebook.

Maybe I'm an old luddite, but if I want to talk to my friends or family I can drop them an e-mail, pick up the phone or even.....(shock, horror) call round and see them. Meetings in the pub have been known. Much more sociable.
 
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Maybe I'm an old luddite, but if I want to talk to my friends or family I can drop them an e-mail, pick up the phone or even.....

Why do you think talkign to people on here is any different.. or by email or by phone even.. none of it is face to face..

I cant understand why people are so down on facebook/ social media..... its opened the world up ..made it smaller.. brought people together... focus on the good not the bad and you will enjoy it


dont be scared of social meida.. gonna be around a long time haha
 
I cant understand why people are so down on facebook/ social media..... its opened the world up ..made it smaller.. brought people together... focus on the good not the bad and you will enjoy it
Separate the terms social media, from Facebook. Facebook is just one way of doing it. Many social networks let you connect to your family/friends on other networks, or even email. That is "social", and not what Facebook do. Facebook didn't invent the internet and social networking. It just looks for ways to wring money out of it. Which is the cause of all these problems they are having now. It's why people want to get away from Facebook, if only Facebook didn't cut off all access to their contacts.
 
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Separate the terms social media, from Facebook.

No.. I wrote facebook/social media to poitn out that its all the same.. that its part of social media

Facebook didn't invent the internet and social networking. It just looks for ways to wring money out of it. Which has caused all these problems they are having now.

. its not just facebook trying to make money from social media... plus.. you dont need to pay to use it .. you can get whatever you like out of it.. i embrace and enjoy it.... i was using BBS systems through the phonelines and then IRC/email on the internet pre the www so I ahve seen it all progress and thats what it is.. progression.. facebook has done a great job and doesnt cost me a penny..
 
As I undertake it FB was started as a means of friends and family keeping in touch. I've no wish to see a photo of what my nephew is having for tea or be told what shoes my sister has just bought.
FB has become a behemoth that people just can't live without. There is a pressing need to tell the world all the inane trivia that goes on in life. The cult of celebrity and the "look at me" syndrome really shows how empty some folks lives are.
There may be a reason for business guys like you to use it to sell your products but the constant questions on here about personal websites seem to indicate that sales can be achieved without selling one's soul to Zuckerberg.
You ask why is here different? This place concentrates on more or less one topic. It shares information that is hard to find elsewhere and will give specific help and advice.

Facebook is full of all sorts of dross that needs sorting through. I don't believe that the owners of this site are selling all our personal details to Jeremy Corbyn or any of the anonymous marketing and data agencies purely in an effort to line their own pockets.

Social media may indeed be around for a long time but that doesn't mean we all have to fall down and worship it. If Z'berg is so confident of his product why has he been ducking out of the chance to explain himself?
 
No.. I wrote facebook/social media to poitn out that its all the same.. that its part of social media
But these effects are down to the important differences.

. its not just facebook trying to make money from social media... plus.. you dont need to pay to use it .. you can get whatever you like out of it.. i embrace and enjoy it.... i was using BBS systems through the phonelines and then IRC/email on the internet pre the www so I ahve seen it all progress and thats what it is.. progression.. facebook has done a great job and doesnt cost me a penny..
You are taking a short term benefit for a long term cost. As you are helping the monopolistic status of Facebook. Making it harder for any other, better, freer, more innovative options of social media to take hold. You are helping hold back social networking to what Facebook chooses.
 
As I undertake it FB was started as a means of friends and family keeping in touch.

The internet was started by the U.S. Department of Defense, .. What interest do you ahve in that while your using it? Guessing none.. my point being things evolve.. you can use facebook for whatever you like.. local news about whats happening.. jong groups.. learn about things just like talkphotogrpahy who are also on FB yes? Juts because it started for that doesnt mean you ahve to stick to it haha.. otherwise.... U.S. Department of Defense, ??

FB has become a behemoth that people just can't live without.

haha I agree.. are you saying you are scared of becoming one of thos epeople and thats why your down on it... use some self control and use it how you like .. not everyone becomes a slave to it... that was exactly my point :)

Facebook is full of all sorts of dross that needs sorting through.

So is TP .. so is the whole WWW ..It was called the superhighway or somethign.. but from the start everyione realised the web was great if you cut through the dross... facebook is no different..

Social media may indeed be around for a long time but that doesn't mean we all have to fall down and worship it.

again exactly my point.. its possible to use it how you want to use it.. you do seem scared of it you know :) you dont have to worship it you know haha :)
 
I wonder how long faceache etc. will last now that selling the details of their victims customers gets them fined. Maybe the small fines are worth paying to keep selling the details.
 
My problem with Facebook and the like is how they use my personal data. As the saying goes, if you don't pay for it then you are the product. I'm just not happy to hand over my personal data for them to do with as they choose. Which is mostly selling it for others to try and sell me things.
 
My problem with Facebook and the like is how they use my personal data. As the saying goes, if you don't pay for it then you are the product. I'm just not happy to hand over my personal data for them to do with as they choose. Which is mostly selling it for others to try and sell me things.

Then don’t give them your personal data.
 
Then don’t give them your personal data.
They take people’s personal data besides what is given — though I’m not sure that people understand they are giving personal data when they post, I think they see it more as conversations with friends :(
 
They take people’s personal data besides what is given — though I’m not sure that people understand they are giving personal data when they post, I think they see it more as conversations with friends :(

I think that really depends on what you post. They’re welcome to have what I post on Facebook (which is not very often), there’s never anything personal and certainly no information that’s not already easily obtainable elsewhere.
 
Then don’t give them your personal data.

I don't. I'm not on Facebook. Or twitter. Or any other social media network. Facebook tracks your behaviour on sites external to Facebook and use your browsing habits to create a profile.
 
I don't. I'm not on Facebook. Or twitter. Or any other social media network. Facebook tracks your behaviour on sites external to Facebook and use your browsing habits to create a profile.

Again, only if you let them.
There are plenty of tools available to stop sites from tracking you.
 
Again, only if you let them.
There are plenty of tools available to stop sites from tracking you.

Which I'm using. When I said "my personal data" I perhaps should have been more generic and used a different pronoun. I'm not specifically referring to me as I'm not using any social networks but my point is their misuse of personal data is why I won't use them.
 
Which I'm using. When I said "my personal data" I perhaps should have been more generic and used a different pronoun. I'm not specifically referring to me as I'm not using any social networks but my point is their misuse of personal data is why I won't use them.

I completely agree with you. My answers weren’t specifically aimed at you but just to say that you don’t have to hand over personal data (or any data) to use them.
 
I think that really depends on what you post. They’re welcome to have what I post on Facebook (which is not very often), there’s never anything personal and certainly no information that’s not already easily obtainable elsewhere.
It’s not just what you post but the mining of your contacts, your friends’ contacts and the contacts of your friends’ contacts, and so on ad infinitum by Facebook+WhatsApp+Instagram+etc. Although I’ve never shared any contacts with Facebook I can see that various friends/relatives/acquaintances have shared theirs because Facebook (and LinkedIn) keep suggesting “people I may know” and I can see that many are connections of people I do know even though I have no connection with the former, if you see what I mean :(:(
 
I don't. I'm not on Facebook. Or twitter. Or any other social media network. Facebook tracks your behaviour on sites external to Facebook and use your browsing habits to create a profile.

Does TP not count as social media? In many ways TP and Facebook are very much alike although I trust the owners of this platform not to be selling our data to third parties :)
 
Does TP not count as social media? In many ways TP and Facebook are very much alike although I trust the owners of this platform not to be selling our data to third parties :)
2 of the owners principles / rules call them what you will, are, and always will be
1) TP will always be free
2) no personal data whatsoever will ever be passed anywhere or to anyone.
 
2 of the owners principles / rules call them what you will, are, and always will be
1) TP will always be free
2) no personal data whatsoever will ever be passed anywhere or to anyone.

TalkPhotography is Nothing like the social media mentioned!
If it was I would not be part of it.
 
The thing I find somewhat amusing about the OP is that if you delete a dormant account you are only giving them more information about you than they already have — eg that you are still alive for a start — and if you believe they actually delete anything you are living in unicorn land. It would be a major operation to delete data from all the backups — I guess impossible — and they have given/sold your data to all and sundry :mad: and can’t get it back.
 
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