Too Many Zombies: Exploring Challenges and Motivations for (Not) Deleting Unused Online Accounts

Bumiller F, Delgado Rodriguez S, Mecke L, Distler V, Alt F (2026)

Publication Type: Conference contribution

Publication year: 2026

Original Authors: Franziska Bumiller, Sarah Delgado Rodriguez, Lukas Mecke, Verena Distler, Florian Alt

Publisher: Association for Computing Machinery

Pages Range: 1-20

Conference Proceedings Title: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings

Event location: Barcelona ES

ISBN: 9798400722783

DOI: 10.1145/3772318.3790497

Abstract

Unused online accounts (“zombie accounts”) pose avoidable privacy and security risks by retaining personal data that may be exposed in breaches. Yet, little is known about when and how to effectively prompt users to delete them. This work investigates the challenges users encounter when attempting to delete zombie accounts. We conducted two online studies with U.S. participants via Prolific: the accounts study (N = 120) to identify common zombie account categories, and the challenges study (N = 100) to examine users’ motivations, perceived abilities, and preferred moments for deletion. Participants reported high self-efficacy but underestimated the number of zombie accounts they had. We identify promising opportune moments — such as when updating account information or setting up a new device — and evaluate potential triggers, including breach notifications and data sensitivity. This work contributes an empirical characterization of end-users’ diverse challenges related to zombie accounts and design recommendations for future deletion-support tools.

Authors with CRIS profile

Franziska Bumiller Graduiertenkolleg 2475/2 - Cyberkriminalität und Forensische Informatik

Involved external institutions

Aalto University Espoo FI Finland (FI) Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) DE Germany (DE) Universität der Bundeswehr München DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Bumiller, F., Delgado Rodriguez, S., Mecke, L., Distler, V., & Alt, F. (2026). Too Many Zombies: Exploring Challenges and Motivations for (Not) Deleting Unused Online Accounts. In Nuria Oliver, David A. Shamma, Heloisa Candello, Pablo Cesar, Pedro Lopes, Alessandro Bozzon, Thomas Kosch, Vera Liao, Xiaojuan Ma, Valentino Artizzu, Fiona Draxler, Gustavo Lopez, Anke V. Reinschluessel, Xin Tong, Phoebe O. Toups Dugas (Eds.), Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings (pp. 1-20). Barcelona, ES: Association for Computing Machinery.

MLA:

Bumiller, Franziska, et al. "Too Many Zombies: Exploring Challenges and Motivations for (Not) Deleting Unused Online Accounts." Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2026, Barcelona Ed. Nuria Oliver, David A. Shamma, Heloisa Candello, Pablo Cesar, Pedro Lopes, Alessandro Bozzon, Thomas Kosch, Vera Liao, Xiaojuan Ma, Valentino Artizzu, Fiona Draxler, Gustavo Lopez, Anke V. Reinschluessel, Xin Tong, Phoebe O. Toups Dugas, Association for Computing Machinery, 2026. 1-20.

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