Craigslist, Netflix, Pinterest all make it impossible for you to delete your account

Friday, August 30, 2013 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: Internet websites, account deletion, social media

(NaturalNews) The plethora of social websites online sure make it easy to join - but did you ever try to delete your account? That's much more difficult, isn't it?

Take Facebook, as an example. Joining is super-easy, but actually deleting your account is a cumbersome process. And even then, it takes a couple weeks for your account to disappear.

The same is true for other sites, including Craigslist, Netflix and others. So, what can you do about it? How can you get your account deleted?

Don't despair - yet

Per Techcrunch, there is help:

A U.K.-based duo consisting of developer Robb Lewis and designer Ed Poole seem to understand that desire awfully well, and they teamed up to create what may be a truly indispensable resource. It's called Justdelete.me, and as the name sort of implies, it's a directory of links to pages where you can lay waste to your myriad online accounts.

When you log onto the site, you are greeted with a listing of scores of social sites, all in alphabetical order. And each site is listed with a deletion classification of easy, medium, hard or impossible. The latter classification is given to sites where you cannot fully delete all of your information because reactivation is always an option, or because there simply is no procedure offered for it.

"More specifically, those links point you straight at the pages where you can deactivate all those pesky accounts... or at least where you can try," writes Chris Velazco for Techcrunch. "Thankfully, Lewis has done the due diligence to figure out which services can be disconnected from painlessly and which ones require you to (ugh) actually communicate with someone to get the job done."

It's not 100 percent, but...

Unfortunately, a substantial number of sites will require you to talk to someone in order to get your account deleted. In particular, of the sites included on the JustDelete.me grid, 10 require you to make a phone call - a hassle you likely weren't aware of when you signed up for the site to begin with.

Four - Netflix, Steam, Starbucks and the popular WordPress - "don't seem to let you delete your accounts at all," Velazco said. "Of course, it's in these companies' best interests to keep the account deletion process as obtuse (one might say dark) as possible. The less progress you make on that front, the more likely you are to say 'screw it' and remain in their clutches."

What's more, as comprehensive as the deletion site is, it's still a work in progress, says Lewis on his blog (http://robblewis.me). He also implores visitors to suggest services people think should be on his main page matrix. He's also hoping the site gains in popularity, spreading to more and more people who are utterly frustrated - and angered - by the process of un-registering at many of the social sites online.

Want to disappear completely?

Other 'net experts advise ways to sort of "commit Internet suicide" and disappear from the Web altogether, if that's your desire.

In addition to deleting your accounts, you will also need to get rid of search results that point to you, as well as records for background checks and other results.

Per a post on LifeHacker:

"Once you get rid of your social profiles, content is likely still floating around the web that you need to get rid of. They might be images, articles, or even employer websites. The first thing to do is figure out where you're showing up online in search results. Search Google and make a note (or bookmark) where you[r] name shows up on web sites."

Sources:

http://techcrunch.com

http://www.justdelete.me

http://robblewis.me

http://lifehacker.com