Ashley Madison database suggests paid-delete option left identifiable data intact

Date of birth, postcode and other personal data still appear on hacked database of infidelity site - even for accounts that paid for 'full delete' service

The hacked infidelity site Ashley Madison apparently retained enough personal data about users to identify them to spouses - as the site's hackers have claimed - despite offering a paid-for "full delete" service, which charged users 15 or $20 to remove all their information.

On the database of Ashley Madison accounts, which was posted online by the hackers on Wednesday, accounts that had been wiped by the dating service had their real name, username, email and profile information removed as promised. But the company seems to have retained the date of birth, city, state, post- or zip code, country, gender, ethnicity, weight, height, body type and whether the user smokes or drinks - providing enough information to reveal a user's identity.