4 ms·

I take a facebook "sabbatical" every couple of years where I delete my account completely and permanently, and then come back with a brand new account a few mon

by nvr219 9y ago

I take a facebook "sabbatical" every couple of years where I delete my account completely and permanently, and then come back with a brand new account a few months later. It irritates my friends but I love it.

hoopism 9y ago
Why? I've turned my account off before in attempt to walk away... Curious why you would set out to do that as an policy. Why not just turn notifications off and share little to avoid cacheing of data?
- quest88 9y ago
  Why did you go back?
  - hoopism 9y ago
    I go back because I derive enjoyment from sharing with my family who I don't see as often as I'd like. I have kids and they do amazing things (amazing meaning boring average things every kid does) and I want to show someone. FB is best way I know how to do that.
- nvr219 9y ago
  For me it's a self control thing. If I just deactivate, I know I can go back at any time, and then I do. For permanent deletion, you have to remain logged off for two weeks, and then you're done. The time constraint helps me. Why do I do it at all? Being off Facebook is good for my mental health-- this is the main reason. Privacy reasons are secondary but also important. I've posted some really stupid stuff in 2004 that I'm glad is (theoretically!) stricken from the record.
cylinder 9y ago
Aren't they preserving your deleted data? They could link your new accounts with your old data internally
- nvr219 9y ago
  Accroding to FB help: "When you delete your account, people won't be able to see it on Facebook. It may take up to 90 days from the beginning of the deletion process to delete all of the things you've posted, like your photos, status updates or other data stored in backup systems. While we are deleting this information, it is inaccessible to other people using Facebook." https://www.facebook.com/help/224562897555674 https://www.facebook.com/help/224562897555674
  - cylinder 9y ago
    That doesn't answer the question as to whether they are still using the data internally.
    - ghostly_s 9y ago
      'Deleting' seems pretty clearly to convey that they do not retain that info, for any purpose. (IANAL?)
    - nvr219 9y ago
      It mentions deleting data stored in backup systems so I'm interpreting that as the data goes away.
    - posixplz 9y ago
      I would imagine that they are either deleting it entirely internally or selectively deleting the data entirely in localities where the law requires them to do so. So far, only the EU has strict regulations requiring businesses to comply with valid requests to delete personal information. (EU GDPR) From a Facebook-makes-money-from-retaining-user-data perspective, I would imagine they are making every effort to ensure they're permanently deleting user data only where legally compelled to do so.
- newscracker 9y ago
  The easier way is for FB to wait until the GP friends the friends, and with some or many of them having already synced their contacts/address book with FB, tie the GP back to the old ("deleted") identity using the phone number. This is a simplistic explanation, but there are more ways to identify people based on the name and other attributes one's "friends" upload on to FB. In effect, what the GP does in no way helps provide more privacy from FB for the GP.
er1c_ 9y ago
I've done this a few times too. Facebook still knows who I am even though I sign up with different email addresses. I do have an account right now but I only really use it to authenticate on third party sites. It's interesting to me that my friends ask did you see my X post on FB instead of telling me about things in their life.
- ghostly_s 9y ago
  > Facebook still knows who I am even though I sign up with different email addresses. Do you have some evidence for this or just presuming?

by nvr219 9y ago

hoopism 9y ago

Why? I've turned my account off before in attempt to walk away... Curious why you would set out to do that as an policy. Why not just turn notifications off and share little to avoid cacheing of data?

quest88 9y ago
Why did you go back?
- hoopism 9y ago
  I go back because I derive enjoyment from sharing with my family who I don't see as often as I'd like. I have kids and they do amazing things (amazing meaning boring average things every kid does) and I want to show someone. FB is best way I know how to do that.
nvr219 9y ago
For me it's a self control thing. If I just deactivate, I know I can go back at any time, and then I do. For permanent deletion, you have to remain logged off for two weeks, and then you're done. The time constraint helps me. Why do I do it at all? Being off Facebook is good for my mental health-- this is the main reason. Privacy reasons are secondary but also important. I've posted some really stupid stuff in 2004 that I'm glad is (theoretically!) stricken from the record.

cylinder 9y ago

Aren't they preserving your deleted data? They could link your new accounts with your old data internally

nvr219 9y ago
Accroding to FB help: "When you delete your account, people won't be able to see it on Facebook. It may take up to 90 days from the beginning of the deletion process to delete all of the things you've posted, like your photos, status updates or other data stored in backup systems. While we are deleting this information, it is inaccessible to other people using Facebook." https://www.facebook.com/help/224562897555674 https://www.facebook.com/help/224562897555674
- cylinder 9y ago
  That doesn't answer the question as to whether they are still using the data internally.
  - ghostly_s 9y ago
    'Deleting' seems pretty clearly to convey that they do not retain that info, for any purpose. (IANAL?)
  - nvr219 9y ago
    It mentions deleting data stored in backup systems so I'm interpreting that as the data goes away.
  - posixplz 9y ago
    I would imagine that they are either deleting it entirely internally or selectively deleting the data entirely in localities where the law requires them to do so. So far, only the EU has strict regulations requiring businesses to comply with valid requests to delete personal information. (EU GDPR) From a Facebook-makes-money-from-retaining-user-data perspective, I would imagine they are making every effort to ensure they're permanently deleting user data only where legally compelled to do so.
newscracker 9y ago
The easier way is for FB to wait until the GP friends the friends, and with some or many of them having already synced their contacts/address book with FB, tie the GP back to the old ("deleted") identity using the phone number. This is a simplistic explanation, but there are more ways to identify people based on the name and other attributes one's "friends" upload on to FB. In effect, what the GP does in no way helps provide more privacy from FB for the GP.

er1c_ 9y ago

I've done this a few times too. Facebook still knows who I am even though I sign up with different email addresses. I do have an account right now but I only really use it to authenticate on third party sites. It's interesting to me that my friends ask did you see my X post on FB instead of telling me about things in their life.

ghostly_s 9y ago
> Facebook still knows who I am even though I sign up with different email addresses. Do you have some evidence for this or just presuming?