How Do I Delete My Facebook Account? [Burning Questions Ep. 1]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB7_JLdayv4&rel=0]

I was asked recently by someone, “How do I delete my Facebook account?” Why would anyone want to do that? Perhaps because Facebook has announced that they are making more changes to their data use policy. This time, they are trying a trick that they have tried before and simply by using their software, you are agreeing to it.

Here’s what it is. They can take any of your photos- say a profile photo or pictures of your kids, and when you “like” a product, they can advertise your photo next to that product. In essence, this means you are endorsing those things you have liked in an advertisement.

So imagine your teenage daughter has a giggly sleepover with friends. They’re on Facebook and they see a Bacardi ad and to be cool your daughter “likes” it and then she likes the movie Magic Mike (even though she hasn’t even seen it), but now her name and her photos are associated with those two likes and is shared across her entire network.

So, why do people want to delete their Facebook accounts? Maybe because they’re tired of giving their privacy away, they’re tired of the arrogance of Facebook obviously making these changes for commercial profit purposes and they try to sell it to us as if it’s for the greater good of the user.

There is so much of our information out there that is not under our control. But social networks such as Facebook are under our control, so people want to take back control of the little privacy they have.

Now, I don’t want you to go out and take an emotional response and just cancel your Facebook account. As you will see in this episode, there is a right way to delete your account, and a wrong way. Choose wisely. I want you to think about it and take four steps:

Backup your data.
Deactivate your account for a week or two first to see if you really want to live without it.
Alert your friends if you do decide to permanently delete your account. The intention is to protect your privacy, not anger your friends!
Delete your account.

(Watch the video to see exactly how to do all of these steps.)

Do you have a burning question? Leave a video comment below with your question and you might be the next person on the show!

To view more episodes of Burning Questions (Live), visit BQLive.com hosted by John Sileo.

John Sileo is a keynote speaker and CEO of The Sileo Group, a privacy think tank that trains organizations to harness the power of their digital footprint. Sileo’s clients include the Pentagon, Visa, Homeland Security and businesses looking to protect the information that makes them profitable.

Posted by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo in Burning Questions (Video), Online Privacy, Social Media Privacy and tagged "Deactivate Facebook", "Delete Facebook", "How do I delete my Facebook account", "Online Privacy Expert", Burning Questions, Burning Questions Live, How to delete Facebook, John Sileo, online privacy, Sileo.