Permanently closing a user account. An account termination may be requested by a user who no longer wishes to maintain an active account on the online service or, it may be initiated by the provider after severe or repeated violations of the service’s acceptable use policy or terms of service.
See also: Account Suspension
Commentary:
- Account termination may sometimes trigger deletion of the user’s account data after the period allotted for appeals or reconsideration has passed.
- Certain privacy laws, such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), provide users with a right to request deletion of personal information associated with them.
- In some cases, the data associated with a terminated account may be preserved, such as when the provider has received a notice to preserve account data from law enforcement or a potential civil litigant.