Zalo causes controversy for deleting inactive account messages after 45 days

(Dan Tri) - The fact that Zalo will delete accounts after 45 days of inactivity, including all message content, has caused a lot of controversy in the user community in Vietnam.

Many users expressed regret at losing precious memories, while others said it was a necessary move to optimize the system.

According to Zalo's terms of use, accounts that are inactive for 45 days will be permanently deleted and cannot be restored. Users who want to continue using the service will have to create a new account.

Zalo defines an inactive account as when a user does not log in, does not send messages, or does not share new posts on their personal page.

The policy of deleting accounts after 45 days of inactivity has been applied by Zalo since 2023 (Screenshot).

Although this policy has been applied by Zalo since the beginning of 2023, it has only recently become known to many users, leading to many controversies on social networking forums.

The pain of lost memories

Ms. T. Huong, a Facebook user, shared her heartbreaking story: "Yesterday, when I searched for old messages with my father on Zalo, I received a notification that the account no longer existed and the message content had been completely deleted. My father passed away at the beginning of the year, so how can I continue using Zalo?

After learning more, I found out that Zalo has a policy of deleting old accounts after 45 days of inactivity. What a pity, all the commemorative messages between me and my dad were lost."

Ms. Huong's story received sympathy from many other users who also lost all message content with deceased relatives due to this policy of Zalo.

Many people think that Zalo's deletion of accounts and all messages after 45 days of inactivity is unreasonable. They emphasize that many old messages may contain valuable memories, important information related to work, or even legal evidence.

"What if important work-related content or even evidence of wrongdoing is saved in Zalo messages, but if that account stops working, will everything be lost?", another social media user asked.

Most of the people who oppose this policy are those who have lost loved ones, and deleting their Zalo account means they lose the beautiful memories kept in their conversations.

Benefits and differences from other platforms

On the contrary, a part of netizens support Zalo's policy. They believe that deleting inactive accounts helps Zalo free up system resources, optimize performance and recover phone numbers used to register accounts.

Additionally, this policy also encourages users to be active and regularly access their accounts.

However, it is worth noting that other major social networking platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, X (formerly Twitter) do not have a policy of deleting accounts or entire message history after the account has been inactive for a while.

Even if an account is permanently locked for violating community policies, the message history still exists in the recipient's inbox and they can still review it when needed.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/cong-nghe/zalo-gay-tranh-cai-vi-xoa-tin-nhan-tai-khoan-khong-hoat-dong-sau-45-ngay-20250725133314938.htm