Delete your account

About this page

This page explains how to delete your account for the Thebe mobile app and everything stored with it. Thebe is operated by The People's Matrix Association, with technical development by CodeGuys.

You can delete your account yourself inside the app, or ask us to delete it for you. Both routes are described below, along with exactly what is removed and what is kept.

App: Thebe · Android package za.co.codeguys.thebe

Option 1: Delete it yourself in the app

This is the fastest route, and it takes effect straight away.

1. Open Thebe and sign in.
2. On the Home tab, tap the settings (gear) icon in the top-right corner.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the settings screen and tap Delete Account.
4. Read the confirmation, then tap Delete.

Your account and its data are erased from our systems, and the app then clears everything held on your phone and signs you out. If the app reports an error, nothing was deleted. Your account is untouched and you can safely try again, or use the request route below.

Option 2: Ask us to delete it

If you cannot reach the app, for example you no longer have the phone, or you have uninstalled it, email support@thebe.life with the subject “Delete my account”.

So that we delete the right account, send the email from the address you signed up with, and tell us the name shown on your Thebe profile. We will confirm by replying to that address.

Anonymous accounts. An anonymous account has no name, email address, or any other detail that could identify you. That is the point of it, and it also means we have no way to check that an emailed request really comes from you. To delete an anonymous account, use Option 1 in the app, or ask a counsellor in the app's support chat to delete it during your conversation.

How long it takes

• In the app: immediately, while you wait.
• By email: we reply within 7 days and complete the deletion within 30 days of confirming the request.

Deletion is permanent. It cannot be undone by you or by us, and there is no grace period during which the account can be recovered.

What is deleted

Deleting your account removes all of the following:

• Your account record: your name, email address, phone number, and profile photo.
• Your conversations and messages. For a one-to-one conversation with a counsellor, the whole conversation is deleted on both sides, including the counsellor's copy.
• Reports and submissions you made from your account, together with any photos or files you attached to them.
• Your push notification registration, so the app can no longer send anything to your device.
• Any roles or permissions held by the account.

This is a genuine deletion, not an account marked as hidden or inactive. The records are removed.

What is kept, and why

• Group conversations with other members. If you took part in a conversation with two or more other people, that conversation remains for them, because we cannot erase their history. You are removed from its participant list, and any messages you wrote are relabelled “Deleted user” so nothing in them points back to you or your account.
• A single anonymous record that a deletion happened. It contains no name, email address, account number, IP address, or any other identifying detail, only a count, so we can see how often the feature is used.
• Records we are legally required to keep. Where the law obliges us to retain something specific, we keep only that, for only as long as required.

If you use an anonymous account

Anonymous accounts are protected by a six-word recovery phrase, which is the only way back into the account. Deleting the account permanently voids that phrase. Afterwards the phrase will no longer open anything, and neither you nor we can restore the account or the conversations that were in it.

Questions

If anything here is unclear, or you are unsure which option applies to you, contact us through the in-app support chat or email support@thebe.life. You can also read our Privacy Policy.