Recent reports are indicating that Facebook has quietly introduced a Delete Account option for users wanting to quickly bail out on the social website. Rather than listed as "Deactivate Account" in the profile settings, the option now supposedly reads as "Deactivate or Delete Account."
This writer did not see such an option in the account settings to confirm the report.
Previously Facebook provided an extended means to delete an account, allowing users to simply remove their page from the database, locking out other Facebook users via account deactivation. This gave users the option of changing their minds before wiping their entire library of photos and comments from Facebook forever.
"If you want to reactivate at some point, we do save your profile information (friends, photos, interests, etc.), and your account will look just the way it did when you deactivated if you decide to reactivate it," the company said. "Many users deactivate their accounts for temporary reasons and expect their information to be there when they return to the service."
But for those who still wished to nuke their profiles (or parents wanting to remove their children from Facebook), the website provided a deletion request found on this page. Apparently the new method bypasses this long and drawn-out process by providing the new fast-track option.
Now here's the kicker: Facebook's terms of service allows the site to keep your information once it's been assimilated into its collective. "We may retain certain information to prevent identity theft and other misconduct even if deletion has been requested," Facebook's Privacy Policy reads. "Removed and deleted information may persist in backup copies for up to 90 days, but will not be available to others."
