Last week I let you know how to download a backup copy of most everything you have posted to Facebook. This was in preparation for permanently removing you FB account. Of course, you could do it for fun to see what they have on you.
Bear in mind that even though you will remove all of your photos, posts, etc. they may still be out there somewhere, where you have no knowledge of their existence. Also, remember that in the fine print when you signed up for FB, they have your permission to use anything you post to their system anywhere they choose. Your “stuff” may reappear somewhere else – maybe as an advertisement. Your deleted information may not be found in the public domain by searching; however, it is still there.
So, after your backup copy is done and saved to your computer, here is how to entirely delete your Facebook account. By-the-way deleting Facebook is a popular search on Google, take a look below at the sixth choice, where I started typing, “delete.”
First you should go to the settings area by clicking the lock or down arrow icon in the upper right corner. On the lower left side of the Settings menu select “Apps” and remove all of them. Keep in mind if it is an app that requires Facebook to play you may not be able to play the game, etc. again. If you want to get more information about the app click its name or icon and read what it does and what information they collect about you. Some apps may not be deleted so you have to deal with those few.
Next you can clear your past searches. Again, under Settings click “Activity logs.” On the left menu scroll down to the first “More” you see and select it. When the screen opens look to the upper area and next to “Search” you will see “Clear searches.” Click and your past searches will be deleted. Now the bad part of this is if you wish to delete all of the other things there you will have to delete them individually. You would have to go to each photo, video, comment, etc. and delete each one. This is not worth it to me and you have covered many of the bases up to this point. I have heard some browsers have add-ins that will do this for you, but I have not tried them so Google for them if you wish.
In the past, you could delete your entire Activity Log but at this writing I could not find a way to do this. Facebook changes this quite often so it may reappear in the future or it could be buried deeply somewhere I could not locate.
Finally, you need to go to this URL, “www.facebook.com/help/delete_account” and click the “Delete my account” button. (That link is not found on Facebook as a link so you must type it in.) But first you may want to read “Learn more about account deletion.” After an alert or two, respond appropriately and it will be gone. You will get a verification email to your registered account letting you know what you did.
However, they say do not login to Facebook again for a minimum of 14 days. I would wait longer. If you do login before that time has passed it will be fully restored. Aren’t they nice thinking you made a mistake after all of this hassle?
Now go read a book or a newspaper and maybe even talk to your friends and relatives who are really your friends.