Account Deletion

Allow end-users to initiate account deletion within the apps.

In Oct 2021, Apple announced that all apps allowing users to create accounts should also provide ways for them to initiate account deletion within the apps, starting from January 31, 2022. It is also a good design to give your end-users more control over their data.

On Jan 22, 2022 Apple decided to extend the deadline to June 30 2022.

Show "Delete Account" button in User Settings

In the pre-built User Settings page, you can show a button for the end-users to initiate account deletion. Users can access the Delete Account button under Advanced Settings in the User Settings page when you enable Account Deletion on your project.

"Delete your account" button in the User Settings page

Enable this button by:

1. Go to Advanced -> Account Deletion page in the Portal

2. Enable the button and press Save

Note that if you enable this feature, you have to prepare for encountering invalid session every time your users close User Settings in your mobile apps. If your users unfortunately decided to delete their account in User Settings, all their sessions will become invalid immediately.

You must verify the validity of the session every time the User Settings is closed. The open method in the SDK is blocking. You can verify if the user session is still valid when the method resolves. Here is an example with the React Native SDK:

React Native

// This method blocks until the user closes User Settings.
await authgear.open(Page.Settings);
// One way to verify the validity of the session is to get User Info once.
await authgear.fetchUserInfo();

Flutter

// This method blocks until the user closes User Settings.
await authgear.open(SettingsPage.settings);
// One way to verify the validity of the session is to get User Info once.
await authgear.getUserInfo();

Xamarin

// This method blocks until the user closes User Settings.
await authgear.OpenAsync(SettingsPage.Settings);
// One way to verify the validity of the session is to get User Info once.
await authgear.FetchUserInfoAsync();

Open Account Deletion Page From Authgear SDK

You can now open the account deletion directly from Authgear SDKs. The account deletion page will be opened in a WebView.

You must enable the button in Portal -> Advanced -> Account Deletion before calling the function.

The following code examples show how to open the account deletion page from Authgear SDKs:

React Native

authgear
  .deleteAccount({
    redirectURI: "<POST_DELETE_REDIRECT_URI>", 
    //the same redirectURI as in authentication
    colorScheme: colorScheme as ColorScheme,
  })

Flutter

_authgear.deleteAccount(
        redirectURI: "<POST_DELETE_REDIRECT_URI>",
        //the same redirectURI as in authentication
 );

Android

SettingsActionOptions options = new SettingsActionOptions(
        "<POST_DELETE_REDIRECT_URI>"
        //the same redirectURI as in authentication
);
options.setColorScheme(getColorScheme());
mAuthgear.deleteAccount(options, new OnOpenSettingsActionListener() {
    @Override
    public void onFinished() {
        mIsLoading.setValue(false);
        Log.d(TAG, "deleteAccount finished");
    }

    @Override
    public void onFailed(Throwable throwable) {
        Log.d(TAG, throwable.toString());
        mIsLoading.setValue(false);
        setError(throwable);
    }
});

iOS

authgear?.deleteAccount(
    colorScheme: self.colorScheme,
    redirectURI: "<POST_DELETE_REDIRECT_URI>"
    //the same redirectURI as in authentication
) { result in
    switch result {
    case .success:
        self.successAlertMessage = "Deleted account successfully"
    case let .failure(error):
        self.setError(error)
    }
}

Deactivated User

When the end-user has initiated the account deletion, their account will be deactivated and scheduled for deletion after the grace period.

Deactivated users are always disabled. They will not be able to complete the authentication process. The is_deactivated status signal that the is_disabled status was turned true by the end-user themselves rather than the admin.

Schedule Deletion

You can set the grace period for how long the user account will be deactivated before deleted from the system. The default value is 30 days, you can choose between 1 to 180 days.

Initiate Deletion from the Portal

An end-user account can also be deleted using the Portal. In the User Management page, click the Remove User button to remove them immediately or schedule the deletion.

Initiate Deletion from Admin API

Alternatively, if you did not enable the "Delete Account" button in User Settings, you can implement the button in your app by yourself. You can schedule a deletion or delete immediately.

Schedule Deletion

Your backend server can invoke the mutation scheduleAccountDeletion with the Admin API to initiate the account deletion.

Here is an example:

GraphQL

mutation {
  scheduleAccountDeletion(input: {
    userID: "USER_ID"
  }) {
    user {
      id
      isDisabled
      isDeactivated
      disableReason
      deleteAt
    }
  }
}

Immediate Deletion

Your backend server can invoke the mutation scheduleAccountDeletion with the Admin API to initiate the account deletion.

Here is an example:

GraphQL

mutation {
  deleteUser(input: {
    userID: "USER_ID"
  }) {
    deletedUserID
}

Webhook events

You may listen to the following events to integrate the deletion behavior to your apps.

Non-blocking events

• user.disabled

• user.reenabled

• user.deletion_scheduled

• user.deletion_unscheduled

• user.deleted

Blocking event

• user.pre_schedule_deletion

See the event details in Webhooks.