I don't like to deliver bad news but I want to start by being honest: no, Facebook doesn't erase all your data , files and browsing history. Yes we can, at least, remove all traces so that Internet users do not know what our Facebook contained..
But Mr. Mark Elliot Zuckerberg, New York programmer and owner of "the big F", will still keep a replica of what we are or have wanted to be .
Facebook, what do you know about me?
Let's start with the basics, without fueling conspiracies. Facebook saves a reconstruction of our profile created with digits, the coordinates in digital printing of the face that we have used as a profile. They are in the file "index.htm", among all the material that we can find if we download a copy of our profile from the 'Security' option..
Let's continue: Facebook saves all our movements within its page. Simple telemetry. From the basics - IP's, schedules, browsers, operator and operating system of our computer / tablet / smartphone - to the cadence of our clicks, time spent on each page, in front of each photo or the external links that we click.
This also works in reverse: Facebook detects where you come from before entering the page, if you have been redirected and, in the case of giving permission to a third-party app, saves a copy of your movements. For security? And for building your ideal profile. Their algorithms analyze our interests to offer ad preferences , the profiles that best "fit" your tastes, and some publications that, simply and simply, they want you to see. Even so, if we are Chrome users we can use this plugin, ideal for configuring the preferences of the ads that will be shown to us..
And finally, if we accept the "photos synced" function, Facebook saves a copy of our camera roll. This private album that “only we can see” can also be seen by “them”. Photos are one of the main values of the web. Try to publish a post with and without a photo. The same text with image will gain 500% more visibility .
Vacuuming
We are going to try this deletion from top to bottom, from the partial "disconnection" to the most complete deletion that we can execute:
- We access "Account" by clicking on the upper right corner and then "account settings". By the way, here you can also find a step by step to delete the sneaky Facebook likes that we don't want anyone to see.
- Let's go to the "security" section. It is the first in the left section. In principle we can say that Facebook takes our security quite seriously as customers of its service. From the new drop-down menu we are going to "deactivate the account", the last option . And, just on the right side we click on that little pen that says "Edit".
- From here we can do two things: either suspend the account temporarily or try to delete everything. Here the battle against the machine will begin: Facebook will subject us to a curious emotional blackmail . In addition to making us give up through the multiplication of steps to carry out. We can complete the farewell survey or ignore it.
- We must do a new password verification, even if we are logged in with our account. At this point, all those friends with whom we have had the most interaction will appear, with a sign that reads "they will miss you a lot." If you press deactivate you will have only taken the first step. Facebook will keep your entire profile for a period of three months . They are not concerned with virtual space issues. It's in case you regret it and your exhaustive deletion is just a slip.
Go for permanent erasure
If we have any doubt about how much information Facebook stores, its FAQ's can enlighten us, but if we are determined to eliminate the account irreversibly, here goes:
- Access this link. We are not done yet. By clicking on "delete my account" we will be redirected to a new screen where it is reported that if we really want a total deletion, we must still log in and inform Facebook of our decision .
- If we have followed this step we will have deactivated the profile. Another push up the mountain of confirmation .
- Now it's time to solve a captcha- style visual puzzle , to detect if we are a very intelligent robot or a long-suffering user who no longer wants to continue using Facebook. Oddly enough.
- You still have one last chance. Your account can be restored in the next 14 days if you re-enter the profile. After this grace period, your account will be gone forever. The applications to which we have given permission to use Facebook will continue to keep a cache of data and we will have to go, one by one, eliminating the trace. Access, however, will be automatically revoked.
This is all that Facebook knows about you
- And what about the Google cache and all those residual images? We must also delete our Google history . This has nothing to do with the browser's search history. We can access from this link. From the first option we choose "Delete elements individually".
- We will access this link: above, in the search bar we write "Facebook". This does not help us to erase a total trace of our movements, but it does to break the association between what we did with Facebook outside and inside, such as going for those inserted gifs, or those news websites to which the plugin of your app .
- From here we can delete each result one by one or in a block, from the top, by clicking on the three points and "Delete results". Be careful not to get confused with temporary results .
And up to here. Once these steps have been taken, our profile can continue to be associated with blogs, pointed in links, and so on. All those links will have been broken but, somehow, the ghost of Facebook will continue to lurk in the shadows. Sorry, I wanted to say: Facebook tools will still appear when we do searches or if we decide to spy on other profiles. Because we have fled from "the big blue F" does not mean that we are not curious about what others are doing, does it?