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Last month, Facebook hit the headlines after it was revealed that the data from 87 million users had been ‘improperly shared’ with data firm Cambridge Analytica .

The news caused many people to question whether to keep their account - and now new research has revealed that web searches on how to delete Facebook doubled following the scandal.

The study, led by Top10VPN.com, found that there was a ‘digital uprising’ against Facebook following the data breach.

Simon Migliano, head of research at Top10VPN.com, said: “The rocketing of search terms like ‘delete Facebook account’ is evidence of a digital uprising of sorts against what has become the accepted norm in the last decade."

(Image: Getty)

Researchers looked at 255 locations across 17 countries, and found that search queries from UK users jumped 101 per cent in March compared to the average of previous months.

On a regional level, Londoners were most likely to search for how to delete Facebook, followed by people living in Brighton, Bristol and Sheffield.

Globally, searches increased by 175 per cent in Canada, 132 per cent in the US, and 103 per cent in New Zealand.

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Australia (95 per cent), Netherlands (61 per cent), India (50 per cent) and Germany (47 per cent) also saw use of the search term surge.

Mr Migliano added: “For users wishing to dial down their presence online without ‘going nuclear’ and completely deleting their social media accounts, there are ways to do so.

“Turn off location finding settings that track your activity, remove any personal information - even if it seems like it’s only visible to you - and be wary of using Facebook to log into third parties.

“For an added layer of privacy, you might want to consider a VPN - which stops Internet Service Providers amassing a hoard of personal information on you.”