Facebook now lets you decide what happens to your account after you pass away

[Himanshu Arora]

Facebook is rolling out new options that will allow you to choose a person to maintain your account after your die. The feature will initially be available in the US, with other countries to follow later.

Until now, the world's largest social network froze profile pages of those it learned had died in order to ensure the privacy and security of family and friends. With this change the person you designate as 'legacy contact', as Facebook is calling them, will be able to manage parts of your account after you're gone.

Legacy contacts will have limited permissions; they'll be allowed to write a post, change your profile picture, respond to new friend requests, and download an archive of your posts and photos. This means that they cannot download the contents of your private messages, edit what you or your Facebook friends have already posted, as well as delete a photo or the entire account.

There are some other points worth noting, too. You can only select one person as your legacy contact, and that person has to be your Facebook friend. A legacy contact is not authorized to pass along the responsibility to someone else. If you fail to choose a legacy contact but name a digital heir in a legal will, they'll be allowed to manage your account. Last;y, of course, you can always choose to have your account deleted post death.

To choose your legacy contact, head to Settings -> Security and the select the Legacy Contact option present at the bottom of the page. The new feature is only available to users in the United States at launch.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/59734-facebook-now-you-decide-what-happens-account-after.html

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

It must be a common issue with FB users. I think this is a strong indication that many FB users are simply not intelligent enough to live a full life and die young. I wouldn't be surprised if this new "feature" will be discussed in a court of law at some point.

 

[Arris]

Lots of money lost by lawyers who no longer have to amend wills to include the likes of "And to Cousin Jim, I leave my FB account".

 

[Guest]

"Facebook is rolling out new options that will allow you to choose a person to maintain your account after your die."
oh come on, your die, really?

 

[captaincranky]

So now Facebook has invented the means to weasel its way into everyone's last will and testament?

If you put your wishes for your Facebook account into a living will, would you be forced to include, "targeted ads"?

 

[Guest]

Why is it not a prerequisite to be able to delete an account completely? Why does this company need to keep data from someone who is deceased? Besides being completely insensitive, this just has "NSA" written all over it!! What is wrong with these people? I think the law suits will be emanating form the families of the deceased. It's a disgusting practice.