You have the right to view, copy, correct, and delete your personal information; if refused, you can sue.

You have the right to demand that a company let you view, copy, correct, and delete your personal information. When a service is discontinued, its retention period expires, or you withdraw consent, the company is obligated to delete that data on its own. If it refuses your request, it must provide a valid reason; otherwise, you can take it to court. Deactivating an account and deleting personal information are two separate actions — after deactivating, you must separately request deletion.

There is no cost involved. Only if the company drags its feet do you need to file a complaint or sue. A lawsuit typically takes several months to resolve, and you must pay legal fees yourself. Therefore, filing a complaint first is the more cost-effective option. The difficult part is having to repeatedly follow up when the company delays action.

There are several situations in which a company must proactively delete personal information: when a service is discontinued, when the agreed retention period ends, when you withdraw consent, or when the original purpose of data collection has been fulfilled. If it fails to do so, you can demand deletion. Should it deny your rights without justification, you may file a lawsuit.

Deactivating an account and deleting personal information are distinct processes; after deactivating, you must separately request deletion. Before switching phones or selling an old device, make sure to log out of all accounts, unlink them, and then perform a factory reset. The law grants you a right to deletion after the fact — it cannot retrieve data that has already been leaked.

全国人大常委会 (2021). 个人信息保护法. 中国人大网. http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/c2/c30834/202108/t20210820_313088.html：第四十五条「个人有权向个人信息处理者查阅、复制其个人信息……个人请求查阅、复制其个人信息的，个人信息处理者应当及时提供」；第四十六条更正、补充权；第四十七条列了五种应当主动删除的情形，含「（一）处理目的已实现、无法实现或者为实现处理目的不再必要」「（二）个人信息处理者停止提供产品或者服务，或者保存期限已届满」「（三）个人撤回同意」，「个人信息处理者未删除的，个人有权请求删除」；第五十条「个人信息处理者应当建立便捷的个人行使权利的申请受理和处理机制。拒绝个人行使权利的请求的，应当说明理由」「个人可以依法向人民法院提起诉讼」