Planning to delete online accounts, identity or presence? Creating an account for a web service that has just got popular worldwide requires you no more than filling out a form along with your name, age, and other details. Excited, you start using the service and quite like it. But then, there’s a problem in the relationship. Over time, you realize the terms of service have changed, a license agreement has undergone formidable changes that only incite you to break up with the service.
However, doing so gets difficult. Like your ex, some web services may just not want to separate from you. As such. These services might make it difficult for their users to delete their accounts. How? You may find several safeguards being installed along the way to make sure you cover some additional steps before you hit the ‘Delete’ button, finally and quit the relationship for once and all.
Is it possible to delete your digital presence?
Normally every web service hosts a ‘Settings’ page via which you can delete your account safely. If you have an account for a single web service then, deleting it may not require much effort but if you have multiple accounts then deleting all the accounts individually, becomes a task.
It’s here when free web services like Account Killer and Delete Your Account finds their potent use.
Delete Online Accounts
AccountKiller.com is a website that makes it extremely easy for you to delete accounts from multiple websites. The website provides instructions to remove your account or public profile on most popular websites, including Skype, Facebook, Windows Live, Hotmail / Live, Twitter, MSN / Messenger, Google and many more.
Delete Online Presence with AccountKiller.com
Go to AccountKiller.com. There, you will find the main page of the service listing popular accounts to choose from. If a service for which you have created an account is not listed, use the search form on the same page. The website uses a color scheme that indicates the ease of deleting/removing an account.
- White – pretty easy! You just have to click once or sometime a couple of times for deleting an account.
- Black – Highly difficult to delete an account. Black site means that accounts for the corresponding web services cannot be deleted as stated by the company itself.
- Gray – Intermediate between the two, i.e. usually requires more work than white sites but does not make it completely impossible like black ones.
For testing purposes, I tried websites from each group.
Facebook is classified as a white, when you hit the ‘Delete Facebook account’ link, it takes you to a page where the link to completely remove your Facebook account exists. It, however, insists to try the deactivation feature instead. Deactivating your account disables your profile and removes your name and picture from most things you’ve shared on Facebook. Some information may still be visible to others, such as your name in their friend list and messages you sent. However, your friends will no longer be able to keep in touch with you.
Pinterest. Correct me, if I am wrong but, Pinterest can now be categorized under BLACK category. Why? Firstly, the direct removal link for Pinterest does not exist. The website does highlight the steps to easily delete your account but users of the service (Accountkiller) suggest Pinterest has apparently changed that. You can’t delete your account anymore. Only deactivate it! A good feature since you do not have to go digging around for a ‘Delete’ option. You simply now it, there’s no such feature anymore.
Spotify is listed under the gray color scheme. A Spotify account can only be deleted by sending an email to Spotify’s support email address ([email protected]) that rarely responds to customers’ requests. The email needs to include the username, date of birth and postal code.
Delete Online Identity with DeleteYourAccount.com
With DeleteYourAccount.com, you will be given easy instructions and quick links that will allow you to delete your social accounts.
You can delete your Amazon, AOL Instant Messenger, Digg, Dropbox, eBay, Facebook, Flattr, Flickr, Foursquare, FriendFeed, Gawker, Google, Hotmail, iTunes, LinkedIn, LiveJournal, Meebo, Monster, Multiply, MyBlogLog, MySpace, OkCupid, Orkut, PayPal, Quora, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Tagged, The Pirate Bay, Tumblr, Twitter, Wikipedia, WordPress, XING, Yahoo, YouTube accounts, using this free service.
How can I hide myself from the internet?
To hide yourself on the internet and remain anonymous, use a VPN software, always browse in Incognito mode or better still use the TOR browser. Also use an encrypted messaging app, secure email services, and encrypted cloud storage, and check your app permissions. You may have to exit all your social accounts or then be very careful about what you post there.
Do let us know if you are aware of any other free web services that help you delete your online social accounts.