With the two-year-old security loophole disclosed by Facebook last week, the social media giant has yet again been forced into the corner for toying with user privacy. This led to a massive backlash and several users even decided to delete their accounts. As a response to this, the 14-day grace period for the permanent deletion of an account has now been extended to 30 days.
So what’s going on?
When a user decides to delete their Facebook account, it doesn’t actually get deleted straight away. Instead, there’s a “grace period,” in which the account remains inactive but accessible, just in case the user gets cold feet and decides to stay on Facebook after all. Historically, that grace period has been 14 days, or two weeks. But Facebook has since decided to up it to 30 days, around a month.
In light of recent events, this policy change doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Facebook is obviously worried about losing its user base after the privacy scandal and security breach. It’s the only possible explanation for the company to extend the duration you are allotted to rethink your decision and hop back on to the platform.
Of course, a longer grace period is also to Facebook’s advantage. Facebook’s value is tied to its massive number of users, so anything it can do to keep that number from declining, including doubling the time for someone to reconsider quitting, is a good thing for business.
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