In the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica controversy, which saw the personal data for as many as 50 million Facebook users unwittingly provided to a firm tied to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, some may want to cut ties with the social network.
Even Brian Acton, the co-founder of the Facebook-owned WhatsApp, tweeted his support of the growing #DeleteFacebook movement. Here's how to delete and deactivate your Facebook account.
Before you delete your account, you'll want to think about the services you use it for. Facebook isn't just a social network anymore; it's often used as a sign-on option for other sites and services.
Click here to see which sites can access your data, as it was a survey app named "ThisIsYourDigitalLife" that allowed Cambridge Analytica to enlist users to sign up, and transmit their own personal data, as well as the info of their friends. (It's not clear whether Facebook users who did not take that survey, but whose friends did, can see whether their data was accessed by ThisIsYourDigitalLife.)
Depending on how you've used Facebook, you may also have a ton of cherished photos and posts detailing other memories on the social network. So, let's start by downloading all of your posts.
How to download your Facebook posts, including your photos.
1. Navigate to https://www.facebook.com/settings.
2. Click Download a copy.
3. Click Start My Archive. Afterwards, you will be prompted to enter your password.
You'll get an email when your archive is ready.
How to delete your Facebook account.
1. Click the triangle icon in the top right corner of Facebook.
2. Select Settings.
3. Next to Manage Account, click Edit.
4. Click Request Account Deletion.
Then, go delete Facebook's app from your smartphone, and (after a bit of processing time on Facebook's end) your account should be deleted.
