Ask HN: “Permanent deletion” of Facebook account not really deleted?

9 points by junto 9y ago ↗ HN

I deleted my Facebook account back in 2013. I requested a permanent deletion. I still have the email confirmation from Facebook to prove it.

Shortly before I deleted the account I altered my Facebook login from my Gmail email address to an Hotmail alias, so that Facebook wouldn't have my Gmail email address (since I didn't trust them not to delete the account properly). I removed any other email addresses that were linked to that Facebook account. I did not ever log back in (until today).

I've just noticed that since the beginning of November I've started receiving spammy emails from Facebook to the original Gmail email address I used to have as my login for Facebook. Subject line like "Do you know..."

Out of interest, I decided to see if I could still login. After a simple password reset, lo and behold - my old Facebook account still exists.

Has anyone else seen anything like this? Is there any way to truly delete your Facebook account, because at the moment the "permanent deletion" promise seems like false advertising?

2 comments

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mtgx 9y ago ↗

If you live in the EU, send an email to your national Data Protection Authority. They could get in big trouble over this, as they weren't supposed to do this anymore.

In the US, it might still be worth sending an email to FTC.

junto 9y ago ↗

Thanks. I'm in the EU.

What is really puzzling me, apart from the fact that they obviously didn't delete my account, is the discrepancy with the email address and the recent emails after 3 years of silence.

It seems like someone in Facebook screwed up and reset my "deleted" account somehow to become active again. Otherwise I would have gone on blissfully ignorant of their "permanent yet obviously only logical delete" process.