Online accounts that you no longer use but never deleted can put your privacy and personal information at risk, so Information Technology Services recommends adding them to your spring cleaning list. If hacked, those accounts could provide answers to the security questions for your active accounts or provide information to steal your identity.
To delete an account:
Search for the name of the website or service and “delete account” using a search engine (e.g., Netflix “delete account”).
Search your email for “welcome” or “verify” messages to find accounts you may have forgotten you created.
Visit the website’s support page and look for information on how to delete your account. If you can’t find anything, submit a request to customer support asking them to delete your account.
Some services may have already deleted your account due to inactivity. Others, however, provide no way to delete an account. In that case, ITS recommends you log in and remove any saved banking or credit card numbers, as well as personal data such as your birthday, address and name. If you can’t remove your information, you can anonymize it by creating a fictitious birth date or name such as Jane Doe.
Also remember to check Facebook, Google and Twitter to identify any apps you have connected to those accounts.
When opening new online accounts, always consider whether it’s worth providing access to your information. Learn more about protecting your privacy at DefendYourData.wvu.edu.