You can delete content at any time; account deletion removes personal-account content, with exceptions
The user can delete individual content they share, post and upload at any time. All content posted to the user's personal account is deleted if the user deletes the account. Account deletion does not automatically delete content posted as an admin of a Page or content created collectively with other users, such as photos in Shared Albums, which may continue to be visible to other album members.
Supporting quotations
You can delete individual content you share, post, and upload at any time. In addition, all content posted to your personal account will be deleted if you delete your account.
Account deletion does not automatically delete content that you post as an admin of a page or content that you create collectively with other users, such as photos in Shared Albums which may continue to be visible to other album members.
Qualifications & exceptions
Account deletion removes content posted to the personal account.
Exceptions: content posted as a Page admin and collectively created content such as Shared Albums.
Not stated here
How the user can later remove Page-admin or collective content is not described in this section.
Retention & Deletion · Company practice
Deletion can take up to 90 days, trash is emptied after 30 days, and backups can take 90 more
It may take up to 90 days to delete content after Meta begins the account deletion process or receives a content deletion request. Content sent to trash begins deletion automatically after 30 days unless the user chooses to delete it sooner. During deletion the content is no longer visible to other users. After the content is deleted, it may take up to another 90 days to remove it from backups and disaster recovery systems.
Supporting quotations
It may take up to 90 days to delete content after we begin the account deletion process or receive a content deletion request. If you send content to trash, the deletion process will automatically begin in 30 days unless you chose to delete the content sooner.
While the deletion process for such content is being undertaken, the content is no longer visible to other users. After the content is deleted, it may take us up to another 90 days to remove it from backups and disaster recovery systems.
Qualifications & exceptions
"Up to 90 days" after account deletion begins or a deletion request is received.
Trash: deletion begins automatically in 30 days unless the user deletes sooner.
Up to a further 90 days for backups and disaster recovery systems.
Exceptions that can delay deletion are in the next card.
Retention & Deletion · Restriction or exception
Content may be kept past 90 days for others' use, technical limits, investigations, safety or legal duties
Content will not be deleted within 90 days where others have used it under the license and have not deleted it, where deletion within 90 days is not possible due to technical limitations (Meta will complete it as soon as technically feasible), or where immediate deletion would restrict Meta's ability to investigate illegal activity or violations of its terms and policies, protect the safety, integrity and security of Products, systems, services, employees and users and defend itself, comply with legal obligations to preserve evidence (including record keeping by Meta Companies providing financial products and services), or comply with a request from a judicial or administrative authority, law enforcement or a government agency. In those retention cases the content is kept no longer than necessary for the purposes for which it was retained, and the exact duration varies case by case.
Supporting quotations
Content will not be deleted within 90 days of the account deletion or content deletion process beginning in the following situations:
where your content has been used by others in accordance with this license and they have not deleted it
where deletion within 90 days is not possible due to technical limitations of our systems, in which case, we will complete the deletion as soon as technically feasible
where immediate deletion would restrict our ability to:
investigate or identify illegal activity or violations of our terms and policies
protect the safety, integrity, and security of our Products, systems, services, our employees, and users, and to defend ourselves
comply with legal obligations for the preservation of evidence, including data Meta Companies providing financial products and services preserve to comply with any record keeping obligations required by law
comply with a request of a judicial or administrative authority, law enforcement or a government agency
the content will be retained for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it has been retained (the exact duration will vary on a case-by-case basis).
Qualifications & exceptions
The listed situations are conditions for content not being deleted within 90 days.
Retention under the investigation, safety, legal and authority cases is limited to no longer than necessary, with duration case by case.
The technical-limitations case commits to completing deletion as soon as technically feasible.
Not stated here
The exact retention duration in each case is not stated; it "will vary on a case-by-case basis".