Since the Facebook- Cambridge Analytica scandal, people started deactivating their facebook account. The Cambridge Analytica scandal was the biggest privacy breach that also influenced the US general elections. Those who know how to deactivate Facebook account freed up themselves. However, there are still many who don’t know how to deactivate or delete their Facebook account. For them, here the simple and quick guide on how you can download your Facebook data and deactivate or delete your Facebook profile to safeguard your privacy.
Heads Up!
Deactivating Facebook profile doesn’t harm your data on the social media platform. However, if you are going to delete your Facebook account, you might want to download your data. After GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), the user now has the control over his data and thus, you can download your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. data and save it to your local system.
Deactivate a Facebook profile
Method 1: Deactivate Facebook Profile Temporarily using Android or iPhone
- Open the Facebook app on your Android or iOS device. Make sure you are logged in
- Tap three lines at the top right in Android and at the bottom right in iOS devices
- Go to ‘Settings & Privacy’ in Android or tap Settings in iOS device
- In iPhone & iPad, Tap Accounts Settings>General>Manage Account
- Tap on ‘Deactivate’ link
- Enter your password & tap Continue when asked to confirm Facebook deactivation
- In Android devices, scroll down and tap on Settings & Privacy>Personal Information
- Click Manage Account & then click Deactivate Link
- Enter your password to confirm and that’s it. You have successfully deactivated your Facebook profile.
Method 2: Remove Facebook Profile Temporarily on PC & Mac
- On your Mac or PC, open a web browser and log in to your Facebook account
- Click on the down arrow at the top right of the Facebook page & click ‘Settings’
- Go to the General tab in the left column and then click ‘Manage Account‘
- Click ‘Deactivate your account’ & confirm by following further instructions
While your Facebook profile is temporarily deactivated, your profile will be hidden from your friend and public. However, a few information such as messages you sent may still be visible. In addition, your friends will be able to see you on their friend’s list but they can’t access your profile anymore. In future, when you decide to reinstate your Facebook account, log in and proceed with activation.
Delete Facebook Profile Permanently
In case, for some reasons, you want to permanently delete your Facebook profile, follow these steps on your Android device:
- Open Facebook app
- Tap three lines at the top right in Android
- Go to Settings & Privacy in Android
- In Android devices, scroll down and click ‘Download Your Information‘
- In the next page, select what Facebook data you want to download. Uncheck all activity data you think is useless such as Ads data
- You can further choose the date range to download specific data or let the option on default
- Select format: HTML or JSON and then finally choose media quality: High, Medium or Low
- Click ‘Create‘ File button. That’s it. Wait till Facebook prepares your data in a compressed folder and shares a download link
- After downloading data, go back or simply go to Settings & Privacy
- Scroll down and click ‘Delete your account and information’
- Facebook asks you to enter the account password to confirm account deletion
- Enter the password and proceed. Your Facebook account will be permanently removed from Facebook along with all your data permanently
To delete a Facebook account on iPhone, iPad, Mac or PC;
- Click or paste https://www.facebook.com/help/delete_account in the browser address bar
- Login with your Facebook Account
- Then click ‘Delete Account’ button and proceed with confirmation to permanently remove your facebook profile
CONCLUSION
Facebook is trying hard to enhance their security, app permissions and access to data. The GDPR has given users control over their data on the internet. However, Facebook still needs to work in a lot of areas to improve user’s privacy and security. Let’s hope Facebook addresses this news soon.
