FACEBOOK WILL KEEP USERS' DELETED DATA HOSTAGE

Reading that title might make you want to throw your phone against a wall, but it has been a rough time for Facebook, so they have decided to keep users' deleted data hostage, for now.

With another massive hack of over 50 million users' account on Facebook, the social media giant is trying to figure out exactly what user data has been stolen, so that is why the company has decided to make it even more difficult for users to leave the platform. Basically, for those folks who might have experienced losses attempt to leave, Facebook has now decided to extend the account deletion grace periods from two weeks to a month. 

If you're not really familiar with Facebook account deletion, here's how it works. When you attempt to delete your Facebook, they hold on to your data 'for safekeeping' while you decide whether you are sure about this decision. Some users have an intense urge to check up on the daily lives of their friends (and enemies), so… there is a possibility that you might be back. And Facebook's banking on that.

Previously, Facebook would hang onto your data for 14 days before hard deleting it (or, at least, preventing you getting to it again, so that should you decide you want to rejoin the platform, you’ll have to start all over). Now Facebook has decided that users need a month to make doubly sure they want to leave the platform – which means those trying to delete their profiles will need to exercise self-restraint and not log in for a month in order to have it vanish.

A Facebook spokesperson says that "We’ve seen people try to log in to accounts they've opted to delete after the 14-day period. The increase gives people more time to make a fully informed choice."

We don’t know whether this extension was finalised by the social network before or after the most recent hack. Seems like it might be time to unfriend Facebook, but it does seem mighty convenient now when users may consider escaping Facebook's internet-spanning clutches.