While that’s true, there’s technically still an account there, and “something” there for people to see. And for accounts that were older, with a ton of account history and activity, it’s not impossible to click through and determine who the account belonged too (as you said, we don’t like deleting content, unless the account is a spammer or worse).
I think a badge is an honor, something you’ve earned as part of the community, and once you leave, or are forced out, that should be something we can take away/back.
We also actively market screenshots of the badge pages to our community in website announcements and through email newsletters and social media, in an effort to let other members know this feature exists, but also to praise those users who have accomplished something. It’s strange that in some instances, there are a ton of “anon-random-number” accounts listed.
But it’s something we’ve dealt with, so we can continue to do so.
Thanks for the info!