Accounts You Can’t Delete
There are a startling number of services and publications online that do not let you delete an account, period. They generally state it up front in the Terms of service (ToS)-you know, the text that no one ever reads. If you suddenly decide to reclaim your privacy and want to obliterate yourself from the following services, well, you’re SOL. Note that most of these companies keep this information for legal and regulatory reasons. The rest are just not that into helping you.
Starbucks-While it has no facility for deleting an account entirely, you can email [email heated affairs support protected] and ask them-reportedly they’ll offer to scramble your data so it’s useless to them, you, and data trolling bots.
Walmart-You don’t need an account to shop at Walmart in the real world or online. However, if you do sign up for an account-it makes returns easier, if nothing else-it’s never going away. You can try calling 800-966-6546, then dialing 238 to get a real person.
Wikipedia-Wikipedia wants attribution on changes to its millions of articles, so it doesn’t allow a username to be deleted. It can, however, be changed.
WordPress-You can’t delete an account, but you can delete the individual blogs associated with it. It suggests simply leaving the account inactive if you don’t want it anymore.
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Twitter Tweets are a breeze to obliterate. Visit Twitter’s “account settings” page from a desktop web browser (you can’t do it via mobile) and you can deactivate your account with the link at the bottom. Enter your password when requested. That’s it. After 30 days-the grace period for you to return-the account and data is deleted. If all else fails, call 415-222-9670.
It won’t be that simple for most people, however. You can’t delete the account until you’ve canceled any premium (paid) services or subscriptions you have with Microsoft Commerce while logged in. Plus, Microsoft lists other things you should do first, like use up your Skype credit and reset your automatic replies on Outlook. Got more serious problems? Call 800-MICROSOFT.
Pinterest This is another site where you can deactivate the account to stop using it, but can’t actually delete it. Once you disable things, the boards and everything you pinned are no longer available and the account is unlinked from services like Facebook and Twitter. But the username and email on the account remain in place, so change the account email address first if you want to set up a new Pinterest account later. To deactivate, click your name while logged in, go to Settings, and you’ll find the Deactivate Account button in the bottom the Account Basics section.
To close an eBay or PayPal account altogether, visit the Close Your Account page. You’ll have to sign in, of course. You get a choice to shut down the whole account, a seller account, an eBay store, or just your PayPal account. Follow the instructions for whichever you choose.
Note that these steps simply turn a paid Hulu subscription into a free version. After that, use the user delete link to get rid of the account entirely.
Open up the mobile app on your iPhone or Android Device. Log in and go to App Settings to find the Delete Account button at the bottom. Tap it then confirm. The data and matches are wiped. Since Tinder uses your Facebook login, you should also on Facebook and delete Tinder’s access. Look under Settings > Apps and search for Tinder directly, or pull up the whole list of programs and sites using your Facebook login. Click the pencil icon to edit Tinder, and select Remove App at the bottom of the popup window.