Deleting your account and data

The quickest way is to remove it from your own account:

• Sign in, then go to Account › Security.
• Choose “Delete account” and confirm.
• As soon as you confirm, your account is closed and deletion begins.

If you cannot sign in, or prefer to ask us, send a request to our contact email. Send it from the email address the account was opened with, so we can confirm it is you. We normally complete requests within 30 days. Our contact address is at the bottom of this page.

When you delete your account, we remove:

• Your name, email address and profile photo.
• Your sign-in details and encrypted password.
• The businesses you saved and follow, and the preferences kept in your browser.
• Any identity documents and files you sent for verification — these are deleted 30 days after a decision in any case.

A few things cannot be removed at once, because other people's discussion or the site's accountability depends on them:

• Comments or stories you published may remain, but without your name — because other people's discussion is attached to them.
• Records of editorial decisions (who published or corrected what) are kept permanently, so the site stays accountable.
• A record of who saw whose phone number is kept, so a later complaint can be investigated.
• Basic server records are deleted within days in any case.

Any question or request about deletion: