Originally published Monday, February 11, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Facebook may be a friend for life
Are you a member of Facebook.com? You may have a lifetime contract. Some users have discovered that it is nearly impossible to remove themselves...
The New York Times
Are you a member of Facebook.com? You may have a lifetime contract.
Some users have discovered that it is nearly impossible to remove themselves entirely from Facebook, setting off a fresh round of concern over the social network's use of personal data.
While the Web site offers users the option to deactivate their accounts, Facebook servers keep copies of the information in those accounts indefinitely. Indeed, many users who have contacted Facebook to request that their accounts be deleted have not succeeded in erasing their records from the network.
"It's like the Hotel California," said Nipon Das, 34, a director at a biotechnology consulting firm in Manhattan, who tried unsuccessfully to delete his account this fall. "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."
It took Das about two months and several e-mail exchanges with Facebook's customer-service representatives to erase most of his information from the site, which finally occurred after he threatened legal action. But even after that, a reporter was able to find Das' empty profile on Facebook and successfully sent him an e-mail message through the network.
The technological hurdles have a business rationale. According to an e-mail message from Amy Sezak, a spokeswoman for Facebook, "Deactivated accounts mean that a user can reactivate at any time, and their information will be available again just as they left it."
But it also means that users cannot disappear from the site without leaving footprints.
Facebook's Web site does not inform departing users that they must delete information from their account in order to close it fully.
Only people who contact Facebook's customer-service department are informed that they must painstakingly delete, line by line, all of the profile information, messages and group memberships they may have created within Facebook.
"Users can also have their account completely removed by deleting all of the data associated with their account and then deactivating it," Sezak said in her message. "Users can then write to Facebook to request their account be deleted, and their e-mail will be completely erased from the database."
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Obama seeks equal partnership in Asia
NYC trial for 9/11 suspects poses risks
Fort Hood gunman contacted Pakistan, lawmaker says
Immigration on White House agenda

Opening day at Crystal Mountain
Skiers crowded the slopes at Crystal Mountain for one of the resort's earliest openings.
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- Homeless man, 46, arrested in Greenwood arsons
- Steve Kelley | ESPN's Bill Simmons gets us: He hates Clay Bennett, too
- KVI talk radio host off the air as of Thursday
- Police investigate videotaped arrest
- Seattle U. Men's Hoops | Big recruit goes from Huskies to Redhawks
- Razor found in muffin an accident, 'mortified' baker says
- Mariners sign Jack Wilson to 2-year contract
- Suspect's family shaken by slaying of police officer
- Mountlake Terrace woman reports razor in muffin
- Ivar's undersea billboards a hoax devised as marketing ploy
- Police investigate videotaped arrest
628 - Seattle man to pack a pistol into community center to protest mayor's ban
180 - Light rail to airport to begin Dec. 19
177 - GOP clueless as families struggle with health care
158 - ESPN's Bill Simmons gets us: He hates Clay Bennett, too
125 - KVI talk radio host off the air as of Thursday
125 - Mariners sign Jack Wilson to 2-year contract
110 - Prosecutor weighs death penalty in police slaying
103 - Wright State game thread
96 - Person of interest in custody in connection with Greenwood arsons
93
- Light rail to airport to begin Dec. 19
- Homeless man, 46, arrested in Greenwood arsons
- Ivar's undersea billboards a hoax devised as marketing ploy
- Steve Kelley | ESPN's Bill Simmons gets us: He hates Clay Bennett, too
- Washington in race for federal education funds
- KVI talk radio host off the air as of Thursday
- Goodwill's Glitter Sale is Nov. 14-15
- Police investigate videotaped arrest
- Boeing: 787 fix is complete on first plane
- Seattle U. Men's Hoops | Big recruit goes from Huskies to Redhawks





