@artemesia @nixCraft well, yes, that's what I meant with my last sentence. The point I was trying to make is that the data collection aspect of this would happen regardless, and if you want to be more cynical about this, there's nothing stopping SO from keeping your data after you delete your account. Though if your answers become unavailable on the site after doing so, that would be a reason why since it would hurt the site (aside from the obvious reason of not wanting to be associated with SO ofc)