Apple has already taken the step. The company has opened its new privacy website to comply with the GDPR of the European Union, and in it we have new options to deactivate or delete our Apple ID . Until now there was not such a clear and direct way of doing these actions, which at the moment are exclusive to the citizens of the European Union.
And knowing that we have received many emails over several years about how to eliminate Apple accounts, we will review the options that are given in this new website and how we can use them properly.
Disable or delete your Apple account: differences between the two cases
The first thing to do is enter the new Apple privacy website and log in with the Apple account that we want to deactivate or eliminate. There you will see all the available options, the last two being the deactivation or deletion of the account:
At this point we will detail the differences between disabling and deleting an Apple account . Deactivating it means, mainly:
- Block your access so that neither you nor anyone can log in.
- Block all personal data stored in the account so that neither you nor Apple can use them.
- Cancel all subscriptions and block all purchases that have been made with the account.
Eliminating the account is something much more definitive:
- All your purchases and subscriptions are canceled. You lose access to everything you have bought.
- All your personal data stored in the account are blocked and will be permanently deleted within a maximum period of seven days.
- You can not recover anything. Everything is permanently erased.
In both cases, after pressing the corresponding option, we must verify our identity and offer a reason why we want to eliminate or deactivate that account. Do not worry, the final decision is yours and that reason only serves to guide Apple on why you delete the account:
From here, Apple will ask you several things:
- An alternative email to keep you informed of changes in the status of the Apple account that you want to delete or deactivate (the process is not instantaneous).
- Maintain a 12-digit code with which you can identify yourself with Apple in case you want to change your mind after giving the order.
- Close all sessions that you have started with that Apple account before ordering its deactivation or deletion. The devices that continue with that session started could present errors after one of the two things happens.
This is going to be the last warning you will see before deactivating or deleting the Apple account:
If you click on the red button there will be no going back and in a few days you will have blocked access to the account or you will have deleted it permanently. If you share the same case as me and you have an old Apple account that you no longer use at all, it’s your time.