Question for website owners/admin

[drdes]

For websites where people have an account with you (ie they have registered with their personal details), what happens if someone wants to close their account?

At the back-end, is the data for that person completely deleted (and cannot be recovered) or is it kept within the database but just as inactive data.

thx

 

[mit74]

in most occasions it's just deactivated or archived for a period. Companies will still want to keep account information and logs of activity for a certain time.

 

[DaveBlack]

I concur with mit74- in many cases, companies are required to to keep records for a certain period of time.

 

[noo81]

In most cases the company keep the account information for a certain amount of time before complete deletion. This can be really useful if a client decides to return, they don't have to start from scratch.

 

[lynxus]

For websites where people have an account with you (ie they have registered with their personal details), what happens if someone wants to close their account?

At the back-end, is the data for that person completely deleted (and cannot be recovered) or is it kept within the database but just as inactive data.

thx

We typically "disable" the account for 12 months.
The data is then retained for either analytical use for for audits.

However, You need to realise that data retention generally should be in line with the data protection act.

Simply holding data for marketing or other random possible uses is not generally allowed!

 

[amitsharma11]

when you delete you account from a site your details are not deleted as it is preserved as log file and may be used for tracking.

 

[herodigital]

Depends on the company. Check the privacy policy and terms and conditions for more details, email them if in doubt.

 

[shine26]

it really depends but for the sake of saving it for the future, you might want to keep it first.