Delete a Patepang account without the app

A deletion code is a file you make in the Patepang app and keep yourself, named patepang-kode-penghapusan.json. It schedules your account's deletion from a browser, without the app: for when your phone is lost or Patepang is no longer installed.

• A code can only schedule a deletion. It cannot open messages, sign in to the account, or change your devices and guardians.
• The file names no one. It holds your account id, your account's server, the day the code was made, and the entry that ends your account, already signed by your phone.
• A code is valid until your account's devices, guardians or recovery settings change. After that the code, and every copy of it, is no longer valid, and the app asks you to make a new one.

Anyone who holds this file can schedule your account's deletion. If no phone or computer still holds your account, that deletion cannot be stopped, and recovery through guardians cannot start while the deletion is pending. Keep the file in a place only you open: the place you keep it in, such as email or cloud storage, can read it.

1. In the Patepang app, open Settings, then Delete account.
2. Under If your phone is lost, choose Deletion code.
3. Read what the code is for and its risks, then press Make deletion code and enter your PIN.
4. Save the file in a place only you open.

The code is made from your account's chain, which is read from the server, so your phone needs to be connected to the internet. The Deletion code screen shows when your code was made and whether it is still valid. While it is valid, the app hands over the same code every time you save it again. An account that is blocked cannot make a code.

1. Under Deletion code file, choose the patepang-kode-penghapusan.json file you saved.
2. The page reads the file in your browser and shows the day the code was made. The page does not show an account id or anyone's name.
3. Tick I understand: this account and all its data are deleted 7 days after this, unless it is cancelled from a phone or computer that still holds the account.
4. Press Schedule deletion. The page sends the code to your account's server, which checks it against your account's chain before it schedules anything.
5. The page tells you the server's answer. If the deletion is scheduled, the page gives the date the account and all its data are deleted.

• The account is deleted 7 days after the code is used. The server does not record whether a deletion was scheduled from the app or with a code.
• Patepang sends no notification when a deletion is scheduled. A phone or computer that still holds your account sees it when Patepang is opened there, as a red Account deletion scheduled banner: "If it was not you who asked for it, cancel it."
• To cancel, on that phone or computer open Settings, then Delete account, then press Cancel deletion. Once it is cancelled, the same code cannot be used again until your account's devices, guardians or recovery settings change; after that you can make a new code.
• While the deletion is pending, devices cannot be added or removed, the emergency lock cannot be turned on, and recovery through guardians cannot start.
• A code from an account that is blocked is refused: that account cannot be deleted early, and is deleted on its own after 12 months without use.
• Once the grace period is over, the account cannot be recovered.

A deletion with a code is the same as a deletion from the app. After the 7-day grace period, the server deletes everything connected to your account: connections, messages still waiting, updates, moments, photos and backups on the server are deleted. Media files are usually deleted within two hours of the deletion, and the copies in the server's database backups are gone 40 days later at most.

What remains: a record that your account has ended, for 12 months, and its entry in the key transparency log, which is permanent. Neither contains a name. People you have met keep the copies of messages on their own phones. A subscription in the App Store or Google Play does not stop by itself: stop it in the store's subscription settings.

The full list is on the Deleting your account and data page.

A deletion code is made in the app (Settings, Delete account, Deletion code). Without a code, an account can be deleted from the app on a phone that holds it, recovered first onto a new phone through two of your guardians and then deleted there, or deleted on its own after 12 months without use. Patepang does not act on an account because of an email or a phone call.

How to do this is on the Deleting your account and data and Backup and recovery pages.

• This page reads your file in the browser. Only the deletion entry inside it is sent to the server.
• This page keeps nothing: no cookies and no browser storage. When you leave the page, the code it read is forgotten.
• This page does not read what is in your account and does not show your account id.
• The server uses your IP address only to limit how many codes are sent from one network in an hour, and does not store or log it. Like every request to the Patepang server, this request goes through Cloudflare, which sees the IP address and the request's content (Privacy policy, section 8).
• Use your code only on this page. Patepang never asks for a deletion code, a PIN or an account id by email.

The chosen file is larger than 16 KiB

This file is too large to be a Patepang deletion code.

The browser cannot read the chosen file

This file cannot be read. Choose the file again.

The file is not JSON, or its format is not patepang-deletion-code-v1

This file is not a Patepang deletion code.

The format is right, but the entry, the server or the day is missing or damaged

This code file is not whole. Make a new code in the app.

The code is for a server this page does not serve; nothing is sent

This code is for another Patepang server (server name), which this page does not serve. The code was not sent.

The code was read

Deletion code read.

With the code that was read, above the checkbox

This code was made on date the code was made. The server checks it against your account's chain before it schedules anything.

While the code is being sent to the server

Sending…

The server scheduled the deletion

Deletion scheduled: the account and all its data are deleted on deletion date. Until then, a phone or computer that still holds this account can cancel it.

A deletion of that account was already scheduled

The deletion of this account is already scheduled.

A deletion with this code was cancelled from the app, and the account has not changed since

The deletion with this code was cancelled from the app, so this code cannot be used again.

The account's devices, guardians or recovery settings changed after the code was made

This code is no longer valid: the account's devices, guardians or recovery settings changed after the code was made. Make a new code in the app.

The account is blocked for a violation

This account is blocked, so it cannot be deleted early. An account that is not used for 12 months is deleted on its own.

The account is not on the server, or has been deleted

This account no longer exists: it may have been deleted.

Too many codes were sent from the same network within an hour

Too many attempts from this network. Try again in N minutes.

The server refuses the code as invalid, for example because a device that was removed made it, or its signatures do not match

This code is not valid for its account. Make a new code in the app.

Any other answer from the server, for example when the service is disrupted

The service is having problems. Try again later.

The browser cannot reach the server

Not connected. Check your internet connection, then try again.