Home Technology Facebook doubles the account deletion grace period to 30 days

Facebook doubles the account deletion grace period to 30 days

Facebook has said it has increased the time to delete an account to 30 days from the current 14 days. What this essentially means is that those keen to get out of Facebook will now have a month to review their decisions.

The process to get back in continues to be the same though, and would require logging in within the grace period. That would be enough of a sign for Facebook to cancel the account deletion request. If there is no activity detected within the grace period, the account would be terminated, and all data associated with it would be permanently deleted. Facebook though said it might take up to 90 days for all the data to be deleted from their servers.

As for reasons for the extension of the grace period, Facebook said this has been done to facilitate those who wish to return back to the social media even after opting to cancel their accounts initially. The company also said the sheer number of people trying to log back in even after the expiration of the 14 day grace period has prompted them to double the time to reconsider their move.

However, till the time any account is in the grace period, it won’t be visible during searches with none getting to view any photos, videos or anything related to the account. Facebook also said users can consider keeping their account in detention for a period before they chose to log back in, which is another option for those contemplating deleting their accounts completely.

Also, of course, the other reason Facebook would like to hold on to its user base comprising of over 2 billion is that it makes for a huge potential for advertising revenue, something that again makes for the lion’s share of the company’s profits. The social media company has also been facing a lot of heat given the string of several high profile data breach scandals that served a severe blow to its accountability.

If the company’s role in interfering with US presidential election process wasn’t enough, there also was the Cambridge Analytica that dented its image. Then there also is the recent revelation of some 50 million user’s accounts that might have been compromised. Needless to say, all of this has prompted many to have second thoughts with their Facebook accounts while there also is a steady exodus of people who have chosen to get out of the social media circuit.

Facebook dating app is now live but only in Columbia

No wonder Facebook is countering the development by enhancing the grace period for users to return if they so wish.