After multiple security breaches, social media and social networking service company Facebook has decided to increase the amount of time it takes to delete an account to more than double of what it took earlier. Though the social network is pitching this as an opportunity for users to make a more informed decision about the deletion of their account, but are they really just hoping to stem the flow of defectors?
Facebook has now more than doubled the amount of time it takes to delete an account. The change was first spotted by The Verge and then confirmed by the social networking giant.
When a request to delete a Facebook account is made, it does not get deleted right away. Facebook offers a grace period which is designed to give people more time to make a fully informed choice. Before this, the grace period used to be 14 days but now, it has been increased to 30 days.
A spokesperson for Facebook said that they have seen people try to log into accounts which they opted to delete after the 14-day grace period, and hence the company decided to increase this period.
It is not clear when exactly the change was made. In the later part of September this year, Facebook said that it has discovered a security issue impacting as many as 50 million user accounts.
This would be helpful for those who get cold feet after the initial two-week period. However, the change essentially drags out the process for those who are absolutely certain that they are done with their Facebook account. Maybe Facebook is thinking is that those who delete their accounts in a moment of outrage might have a change of heart given a full month to mull it over.
Well, people might have different opinions on this. Some say that they should be allowed to delete their accounts instantly, while some feel that Facebook should give a chance to cancel the request for deletion as their mind may change at a later point of time.
Well, what Facebook has done is the right thing as those who are sure that they want their account to get deleted would not try to login again to check if their account got deleted. Apart from this, those who do this in a moment of outrage do get a chance to revert their decision which is not at all a bad thing to do.
