Twitter is one of the earlier social networks. Founded in 2006, the company has around 340 million active users worldwide, and half a billion tweets are sent out into the universe each day. The social network is also used by trolls and bots, with a high number of fake accounts that Twitter occasionally deletes.

Genuine Twitter users may choose to delete their accounts for different reasons. More often in the past years, we hear about people deleting their Twitter accounts out of protest. This was the case when Trump supporters left the network, making the hashtag “twexit” trend in the US. 

Whatever your reason might be for deleting your Twitter account, <hl>here’s how it’s done<hl>. 

The technical steps of deleting your Twitter account

1. Select ‘more’ from the side or drop-down menu (depending on your device of choice) 
2. Choose ‘Settings and privacy’
3. Click ‘Your account’
4. Select ‘Deactivate your account’
5. Select ‘Deactivate’
6. Enter your Twitter password unpaid
7. Click ‘Deactivate account’ to confirm

You can also <nofollow>visit your Mine account<nofollow> to manage this and other online services. 

Some things worth knowing about Twitter and data privacy

• Last year, Twitter announced privacy policy changes that impact its data-sharing practices, enabling Twitter to share more information with advertisers, including views, clicks, and third-party cookies. Unsurprisingly, many users did not appreciate this change. 
• Also, in 2020, Twitter was fined by the Data Protection Commission for breaking EU privacy laws. The company failed to notify the authorities within 72 hours regarding a data breach that took place in 2019. The fine itself is a slap on the wrist, but the message it sends is clear and alarming. 
• On a more positive note, Twitter opened a dedicated Privacy Center focused on data protection, announcing its intention to do more to keep users’ information private and secure. This move was made a year before the above breaches took place, which might indicate a slow start.  

What else? A few things worth noting

• After deactivating your account, you’ve got 30 days to change your mind before the information is preeminently deleted. 
• The internet is a time capsule, and just because you’ve deleted your Twitter account doesn’t mean people will no longer be able to view the content you’ve published on Twitter. 
• The same goes for how you’re targeted online. Twitter clarifies that by stating that the company does not control content indexed by search engines, and some content may continue to live through these search engines. 

Start taking control of your data by deleting your data from services you no longer need. Visit <nofollow>your Mine account<nofollow> to learn which companies have access to your data and take action.