diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index f652a8f9c..eb7fdc5ab 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
   validates :username, presence: true, unless: :organization?
   validates :username, uniqueness: true, unless: :organization?
   validates :document_number, uniqueness: { scope: :document_type }, allow_nil: true
+
   validate :validate_username_length
 
   validates :official_level, inclusion: {in: 0..5}
@@ -145,6 +146,22 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
     Proposal.hide_all proposal_ids
   end
 
+  def erase(erase_reason = nil)
+    self.update(
+      erase_reason: erase_reason,
+      username: nil,
+      email: "",
+      unconfirmed_email: nil,
+      document_number: nil,
+      phone_number: nil,
+      encrypted_password: "",
+      confirmation_token: nil,
+      reset_password_token: nil,
+      email_verification_token: nil
+    )
+
+    self.hide
+  end
 
   def email_provided?
     !!(email && email !~ OMNIAUTH_EMAIL_REGEX) ||
diff --git a/spec/models/user_spec.rb b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
index 14f20ad1d..be093c85e 100644
--- a/spec/models/user_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
@@ -302,4 +302,35 @@ describe User do
 
   end
 
+  describe "#erase" do
+    it "anonymizes a user and marks him as hidden" do
+      user = create(:user,
+                     username: "manolo",
+                     unconfirmed_email: "a@a.com",
+                     document_number: "1234",
+                     phone_number: "5678",
+                     encrypted_password: "foobar",
+                     confirmation_token: "token1",
+                     reset_password_token: "token2",
+                     email_verification_token: "token3")
+      user.erase('a test')
+      user.reload
+
+      expect(user.erase_reason).to eq('a test')
+
+      expect(user.username).to be_nil
+
+      expect(user.email).to be_empty
+      expect(user.unconfirmed_email).to be_nil
+      expect(user.document_number).to be_nil
+      expect(user.phone_number).to be_nil
+
+      expect(user.encrypted_password).to be_empty
+
+      expect(user.confirmation_token).to be_nil
+      expect(user.reset_password_token).to be_nil
+      expect(user.email_verification_token).to be_nil
+    end
+  end
+
 end