DELETE YOUR ACCOUNT: How to wipe your personal information from Facebook, Amazon, Google, and other major websites and apps (AAPL, MSFT, SNAP, AMZN, GOOG, GOOGL, FB)

Woman disgusted by laptop

Facebook revealed last week that hackers got access to the sensitive personal information of as many as 30 million users, causing many to rush to delete their accounts and protect it from any further breaches.

But Facebook is definitely not the only website on the Internet that has a chock-full of data stored on you.

Even if you were one of the lucky Facebook accounts to be spared (you can check if you were affected here), it's possible that any of the other major websites, apps, and services — Amazon, Apple, Google, even Snapchat — could be next.

The only way to ensure your sensitive data can't be compromised is by removing your information from the Internet entirely. In other words, if you're really worried about protecting your data from any future hacks...now is the time to delete your account.

Here's how to delete your accounts for many of the major websites, apps, and services:

Facebook

By deleting your account, you will remove everything you've ever put on Facebook— profile information, photos, status updates, timeline posts — but it doesn't include messages sent via Facebook Messenger.

However, it will take 30 days for your account to actually be deleted. This "grace period" used to be 14 days, but Business Insider reported in early October that Facebook raised it to a month to give users an opportunity to reactivate their account if they get cold feet.

If you don't want to lose everything you've put on Facebook, there is an option to download a copy of all your information. But you have to request this archive before deleting your account, and you'll have it sent to you via email — if you delete your account before requesting the archive, you're out of luck.

Twitter

Twitter maintains a 30-day "grace period" similar to that of Facebook. You have to first deactivate your account, and then wait a month to completely delete your account and all its information.

The option to deactivate is found at the bottom of the "account" page in Settings. Like Facebook, you can also download all your data before deleting your account.

Snapchat

Although Snapchat is a phone app, you'll need to visit Snapchat's website on an Internet browser to completely delete your account. Simply removing the app from your phone will not delete your information.

On Snapchat's website you can access the accounts portal, where you can then log into your account to delete it. Snapchat will also first deactivate your account for 30 days in case you change your mind, and also offers you the opportunity to download your data before you delete your account.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider