Completely deleting a free Peacock subscription and account is not as easy as it should be. However, it can be done if a user really wants their account and related user information to be removed.
Peacock TV launched on July 15 and the service is available in three different tiers. NBCUniversal has taken this approach as a means to ensure that whatever the consumer’s budget, there’s a plan to suit their needs. At the ultimate accessible level, there’s the free tier which opens up a wide selection of movies and TV shows at no cost. In comparison, consumers can opt for upgraded plans through the premium and premium plus tiers.
While having a free tier is a great option for consumers, the approach NBCU has taken means that the free plan is considered a default plan. In other words, while it is easy enough to cancel Peacock premium or premium plus, the service assumes the user will be happy to retain access to the free level. After all, it’s free.
Yes, consumers can just stop using the service and if the account is set to the free plan then there is no cost liability, however, whether coming from a premium plan, or just tired of the free plan, there’s no easy way to ultimately bring a Peacock subscription to a permanent close.
Permanently deleting a Peacock account
To be clear, there is an option to fully delete a Peacock subscription. However, this is not one of those cases where you can just close the free subscription down and then at a later point, click activate again and have all the accounts resurfaced as it was before. Instead, consumers will need to fully delete their entire Peacock account, including all personal data related to the account.
Essentially, deleting the free Peacock subscription currently involves deleting a Peacock profile completely. Here’s how to do that.
Deleting a Peacock profile
The service’s help pages do have a dedicated “How do I delete my account?” page (link), although it is only marginally helpful. The limited information provided makes it clear that to delete a profile requires subscribers to actively request the company to delete the information it has on file. While this is not unusual, the linking of the free account does make it a convoluted process for those just looking to stop being a Peacock subscriber.
The FAQ page points users to the company’s official privacy policy (link) which is equally filled with more information that might prove to be confusing for some consumers. Buried within that page is a line that reads “U.S. residents who wish to learn more about access or deletion requests may click here” with a link to another page.
The page linked to is NBCU’s ‘Individual Rights Request Portal’ and this includes a form that needs to be filled out by the consumer. The button below is a direct link to the delete information request form.
The form itself requires consumers to provide some of their personal information, such as full name and email address. Once filled out, make sure the “Delete Information” option at the top is selected, and “Peacock” is listed as the “Select applicable brand(s)” option before submitting.
What to be aware of when deleting
If the route to deleting a free Peacock subscription was not complicated enough, it is important to understand the effects of a move like this. As a successful request is not only deactivating an active subscription, but requesting NBCU deletes all of the information it has on the consumer. This will also likely mean the user has to re-provide the same information if they want to use Peacock TV again in the future.
In addition, there is also no guarantee that the account will be deleted, and certainly, that it will be deleted immediately. Instead, this is simply a request form that consumers can use to tell Peacock that the consumer wants the service to delete its information. As the company explains in its privacy policy:
“Your rights and our responses will vary based on your state or country of residency.”
Source: NBCUniversal
Deleting Peacock account summary
In reality, if you are just not interested in using Peacock TV any longer, the easiest solution is to simply make sure the subscription is set to the free level and then uninstall the app and stop using the service.
While this is not ideal as it technically keeps the user as a subscriber, albeit not an active one, it is the easiest solution. Considering the access level is free, there’s no monthly cost involved if the consumer just stops using the service.
However, for those who want to permanently close their Peacock account, the ability to do so currently remains in the hands of NBCUniversal. The company would naturally be expected to comply with any local laws requiring them to honor a consumer request, and most likely comply with any requests it is not legally obligated to if asked, but that’s not quite the same as just hitting delete and knowing a Peacock account has been deleted.
Read more: Peacock Premium Has Commercials, Depending on How Much You Pay
Leave a Reply