Skill: Account Deletion Check

<!-- SEO: account deletion in-app delete user data deactivate Guideline 5.1.1(v) required June 2022 iOS App Store rejection -->

Purpose

Detects missing or insufficient in-app account deletion functionality required since June 30, 2022 under Guideline 5.1.1(v) for all apps that support account creation.

Apple Guideline

• Primary: 5.1.1(v) — Data Collection and Storage: Account Deletion
• Related: 5.1.1(i), 5.1.1(iii)
• Reference: references/guidelines/5-legal.md

Real-World Rejection Cases

• Case: App supporting account creation rejected after June 30, 2022 for not having in-app account deletion Source: https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=12m75xbj Root cause: Required since June 30, 2022 — all apps that support account creation must allow deletion within the app, not just via email request or external link

• Case: App offered "Deactivate Account" but not true deletion — rejected Source: Apple Developer Forums thread/254032717 Root cause: Deactivation is not deletion — Apple requires permanent account and data deletion option; temporarily disabling access does not satisfy the requirement

• Case: App using Sign in with Apple did not revoke the Apple identity token when user deleted their account — rejected; account deletion was incomplete without credential revocation Source: Apple TN3194 (developer.apple.com/documentation/technotes/tn3194) Root cause: Account deletion must include calling Apple's token revocation endpoint to invalidate the Sign in with Apple credential; local-only deletion without server-side token revocation is considered incomplete account deletion

Trigger

Invoke on any iOS/macOS project that includes user account creation, login, or sign-up flows.

Inputs

Name	Type	Default	Description
project_root	path	cwd	iOS/macOS project root
shared_context	object	nil	Pre-collected context from appstore-full-audit Phase 1

Actions

Phase 1: Context Collection

Skip this phase if shared_context is provided.

1. Glob **/*.swift — collect all Swift source files.
2. Glob **/Settings*View* or **/Account*View* or **/Profile*View* — locate account management UI files.
3. Glob **/Auth* or **/Login* or **/Signup* or **/Register* — locate authentication flow files to confirm account creation exists.

Phase 2: Checks

1. Account deletion UI element Grep pattern "deleteAccount"|"Delete Account"|"delete_account"|"deleteUser"|"destroyAccount"|"Delete My Account"|"Remove Account" in **/*.swift. If absent → 🔴 CRITICAL. All apps with account creation must offer in-app deletion.

2. Deactivation-only pattern without true deletion Grep pattern "deactivate"|"suspend"|"disable" in **/*.swift — check account-settings context. If "deactivate"/"suspend" found but no "deleteAccount" found → 🔴 CRITICAL. Deactivation alone does not satisfy 5.1.1(v).

3. Account deletion navigable from settings/profile Glob **/Settings*View*, **/Profile*View*, **/Account*View* — Read each file. Verify a deletion action or navigation link to deletion is present. If account management views exist but deletion option is not surfaced → 🔴 CRITICAL.

4. Backend deletion API call Grep pattern "deleteAccount"|"DELETE /user"|"DELETE /account"|"DELETE /me"|deleteUser in **/*.swift — check network/API layer. If in-app deletion UI exists but no corresponding backend deletion call found → 🟠 HIGH. Account deletion must also erase backend data, not only local state.

Phase 3: Output

Collect all findings from Phase 2 and build the prioritised findings list below. Include file paths and line numbers. Omit tiers with no findings.

Output Format

## Account Deletion Check — Findings

### 🔴 CRITICAL — Guaranteed rejection
- [ ] TODO: Add in-app account deletion option — "Delete Account" action required for all apps with account creation — Guideline 5.1.1(v)
- [ ] TODO: Replace "Deactivate Account" with permanent "Delete Account" — deactivation does not satisfy Apple's deletion requirement — `AccountSettingsView.swift:44` — Guideline 5.1.1(v)

### 🟠 HIGH — Very likely rejection
- [ ] TODO: Confirm backend DELETE API is called when user triggers account deletion — no network deletion call found in account management code — `AccountViewModel.swift:112` — Guideline 5.1.1(v)

### 🟡 MEDIUM — Possible rejection
- [ ] TODO: Display a confirmation dialog explaining what data will be permanently deleted before finalizing account deletion

### 🟢 LOW — Best practice
- [ ] TODO: Follow Apple's account deletion guidance — inform users of any grace period or data retention policy as per applicable laws

Tools Used

Glob, Grep, Read

Constraints

• Read-only. No file edits.
• No network calls.
• Skip Phase 1 if shared_context is provided by orchestrating agent.
• Works on Swift, Objective-C, React Native, Flutter projects.

Quick Commands

Run these in your project root to check manually:

# Check for account deletion implementation
!grep -rn "deleteAccount\|Delete Account\|delete_account\|destroyAccount\|deleteUser" . --include="*.swift"

# Check for deactivate-only (flag if no delete)
!grep -rn "deactivate\|suspend\|disable" . --include="*.swift" | grep -iv "disabled\|button\|view\|isEnabled"

# Check network layer for DELETE endpoint
!grep -rn "DELETE\|deleteAccount\|delete/user\|delete/account" . --include="*.swift" | grep -v "//"

Swift Anti-Pattern Reference

examples/swift/PrivacyPatterns.swift

Detection Steps

1. Find target files

   • Glob: **/*.swift, **/*.m

2. Search for rejection patterns

   • Grep createAccount\|signUp\|register\|SignUp\|CreateAccount — confirms account creation exists
   • Grep deleteAccount\|delete_account\|removeAccount\|accountDeletion\|DeleteAccount — deletion implementation
   • Grep deactivate\|suspend\|disable.*[Aa]ccount — deactivation-only pattern (insufficient)
   • Grep ASAuthorizationAppleIDProvider\|revokeToken — Sign in with Apple token revocation

3. Determine verdict

   • Account creation found + no deletion pattern → 🔴 CRITICAL (Guideline 5.1.1(v), required since June 30, 2022)
   • Only deactivate/suspend found without delete → 🔴 CRITICAL (deactivation ≠ deletion)
   • Sign in with Apple used + no revokeToken → 🟠 HIGH
   • Deletion found + revocation present → 🟢 pass

4. Report

   • File where account creation is found (line number)
   • Confirm deletion is absent or only deactivation exists
   • Fix: Implement Settings → Account → Delete Account with server-side data deletion and credential revocation