Can I force a website/service to delete my private data
<p>I would like to wipe my online data clean and make sure the people deleted my account.</p>

<p>Considering that most services only offer to "close" or "suspend" the account and not delete the data like skype or facebook can I force them to delete my data ? </p>

<p>I'm French and most of the services are US based.</p>

<p>Typically, you have no right to the data from concerning you held by service providers. In fact, the vast majority of established service providers will have you explicitly licensing your content to them by way of the Terms of Use or Service.</p>

<p>Barring specific statute to the contrary, the existence of which I'm not aware - there is no legal obligation for anu private entity in the United States to delete or even divulge the information it holds on you. </p>

<p>Under the GDPR, a resident of the EU now has the right to have data about him- or herself deleted, or anonymized, subject to certain exceptions. (that was not true when this question was first posted.) The GDPR asserts this right as against any entity that processes personal data, anywhere. It is not yet clear whether, and if so how, this right can be effectively enforced against processors not based in or doing business in the EU.</p>

united-states gdpr data-ownership