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1. Of course! 2. It's not too late to delete your account. Go for it! 3. Block it all! https://github.com/jmdugan/blocklists/blob/master/corporations/facebook/a

by owly 10y ago

1. Of course! 2. It's not too late to delete your account. Go for it! 3. Block it all! https://github.com/jmdugan/blocklists/blob/master/corporations/facebook/all https://github.com/jmdugan/blocklists/blob/master/corporatio...

politician 10y ago
Unfortunately, one should not believe that deleting your account removes the underlying data. The actual operation is probably more like, "set a bit that prevents anyone from logging in to this profile."
- dade_ 10y ago
  True, but I deleted my account 2 years ago, so at least they have a lot less info during that time. Also, I don't miss it at all, not even a little bit. I think it offers no value for my time, let alone data. I am not sure why I am still on Twitter, but Snapshot has been entertaining and LinkedIn invaluable.
  - lisper 10y ago
    > at least they have a lot less info during that time How do you know? If FB can't be trusted to actually delete your account (and they can't) how can they be trusted to stop collecting data on you?
    - x1798DE 10y ago
      Presumably if you've cleared your cookies and you use an adblocker, their ability to reliably track your activity goes way, WAY down. In addition to the standard protections of the adblocker and privacybadger, I also generally set a full block on all content from facebook[.com/.net] and any identifiable facebook subdomains. I really have no use for facebook, so it is zero imposition on me, and if I ever want to view something on facebook, I can open up a new private window in an alternate browser as a one-off (or, if I'm feeling paranoid, spin up a VM).
      - lisper 10y ago
        All of those precautions are orthogonal to deleting your FB account. You can do all of those things without deleting your account (only log in using an incognito window). Deleting your account may or may not change anything with regards to FB's collection of information about you. There is simply no way to know because it is entirely up to FB what the semantics of deleting your account actually are.
      - dade_ 10y ago
        Yeah, that reminded me to clear my cookies again. Of course Facebook is there again. Even if they are somehow still building their dossier on me, at least I am not wasting my life on a site built for, I quote "Dumb F*ucks" - Zuck.
  - sixothree 10y ago
    You still have an account and they are still collecting data on you. AFAIK nothing has changed by your deleting your account.
  - junto 10y ago
    I "deleted" my account three years ago, and just before doing so I changed my name to something nonsensical, and I created an alias email address on Outlook.com, set that as my primary email account on Facebook instead of my real Gmail email address, and then applied for a permanent deletion. I still have the confirmation of the"permanent deletion" from Facebook in that fake outlook.com account. Back in November I started getting Facebook spam on my Gmail account, the "people you might know" your emails, and there were people I knew. I clicked on an unsubscribe link that led me to a login. Out of interest I used my Gmail account and reset my password, and within thirty seconds I was back in my account. It was exactly the same account as I had permanently deleted. My assumption is that someone screwed up at Facebook and ran a query that updated permanently deleted accounts. I'm not sure what else could have caused this to start so spontaneously after years of peace.
- largote 10y ago
  That'd be a legal hot-mess for Facebook.

by owly 10y ago

politician 10y ago

Unfortunately, one should not believe that deleting your account removes the underlying data. The actual operation is probably more like, "set a bit that prevents anyone from logging in to this profile."

dade_ 10y ago
True, but I deleted my account 2 years ago, so at least they have a lot less info during that time. Also, I don't miss it at all, not even a little bit. I think it offers no value for my time, let alone data. I am not sure why I am still on Twitter, but Snapshot has been entertaining and LinkedIn invaluable.
- lisper 10y ago
  > at least they have a lot less info during that time How do you know? If FB can't be trusted to actually delete your account (and they can't) how can they be trusted to stop collecting data on you?
  - x1798DE 10y ago
    Presumably if you've cleared your cookies and you use an adblocker, their ability to reliably track your activity goes way, WAY down. In addition to the standard protections of the adblocker and privacybadger, I also generally set a full block on all content from facebook[.com/.net] and any identifiable facebook subdomains. I really have no use for facebook, so it is zero imposition on me, and if I ever want to view something on facebook, I can open up a new private window in an alternate browser as a one-off (or, if I'm feeling paranoid, spin up a VM).
    - lisper 10y ago
      All of those precautions are orthogonal to deleting your FB account. You can do all of those things without deleting your account (only log in using an incognito window). Deleting your account may or may not change anything with regards to FB's collection of information about you. There is simply no way to know because it is entirely up to FB what the semantics of deleting your account actually are.
    - dade_ 10y ago
      Yeah, that reminded me to clear my cookies again. Of course Facebook is there again. Even if they are somehow still building their dossier on me, at least I am not wasting my life on a site built for, I quote "Dumb F*ucks" - Zuck.
- sixothree 10y ago
  You still have an account and they are still collecting data on you. AFAIK nothing has changed by your deleting your account.
- junto 10y ago
  I "deleted" my account three years ago, and just before doing so I changed my name to something nonsensical, and I created an alias email address on Outlook.com, set that as my primary email account on Facebook instead of my real Gmail email address, and then applied for a permanent deletion. I still have the confirmation of the"permanent deletion" from Facebook in that fake outlook.com account. Back in November I started getting Facebook spam on my Gmail account, the "people you might know" your emails, and there were people I knew. I clicked on an unsubscribe link that led me to a login. Out of interest I used my Gmail account and reset my password, and within thirty seconds I was back in my account. It was exactly the same account as I had permanently deleted. My assumption is that someone screwed up at Facebook and ran a query that updated permanently deleted accounts. I'm not sure what else could have caused this to start so spontaneously after years of peace.
largote 10y ago
That'd be a legal hot-mess for Facebook.