It Now Takes 30 Days To Delete Your Facebook Account

Facebook has made it more difficult for its users to cut off their engagement with the social networking site.

The social media giant recently made a change on how long it will take to delete a Facebook account. It previously took 14 days to delete an account, but this has increased to 30 days.

The change means that users have up to one month to reverse their decision to delete their accounts should they choose to log back in.

Facebook said that it will not automatically restore the account if the user logs in but it will give users the option to cancel their deletion request.

A Facebook spokesperson explained that the company has seen people trying to log in to their accounts that they have opted to delete after the two-week period. He said that the longer grace period for deletion should now provide people with ample time to think over their decision to say goodbye to the social network.

“We recently increased the grace period when you choose to delete your Facebook account from 14 days to 30 days,” the Facebook spokesperson told The Verge.

“We’ve seen people try to log in to accounts they’ve opted to delete after the 14-day period. The increase gives people more time to make a fully informed choice.”

The extension of the grace period essentially drags out the process for people who are absolutely certain they are done using the site. They would have to wait up to a month before their account will permanently disappear along with their data.

It is not clear when the change was exactly made but it came at a time when Facebook faces numerous issues that give people reason to delete their accounts.

The hashtag #DeleteFacebook has trended after reports emerged that data firms managed to steal personal information from millions of Facebook users.

Although Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that there was not a meaningful number of users who deleted their Facebook account following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, survey suggests otherwise.

Carolina Milanesi, principal analyst At Creative Strategies, and the technology research group Techpinions surveyed 1,000 Americans about their feelings regarding Facebook.

The survey revealed that 17 percent of the respondents deleted their Facebook app from their phone over privacy concerns. Thirty-five percent were using the social network less than they used to because of privacy issues, and 9 percent deleted their account altogether.

Just last week, Facebook reported a massive security breach which left at least 50 million accounts possibly compromised.