

Ask HN: What happens to your Facebook account when you die? - AdilD

We all know that when you delete your facebook account, it still exists within their servers but the reasons why that make sense (i.e. in case you want to come back, their data using purposes) are not as applicable if you've passed away.<p>So there is the question of ownership. For example, could your family request control of your account? I'd rather this than facebook or my account sitting idle but then again, if you haven't consented to it, that doesn't seem right.<p>There is also the question of your footprint. Does facebook delete your account on your behalf (assuming they are notified) or does it just sit there like a virtual tombstone?<p>Finally there is the question of information. Assuming facebook knows about your passing ans deletes your account, do they still hold that information in their servers as they do with other people who have deleted their accounts?
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profquail
I don't think that your family can request control of your account, but they
can request that it is deleted (or hidden, I don't know what FB does
internally).

I've had friends who've passed away, and their facebook is still up; people
write messages on their wall every once in a while saying that they miss them
and so forth, so in a sense, it becomes like a virtual memorial. I've also
read stories about families that wanted their deceased relative's facebook
account deleted, but they didn't know any of the security questions or other
information, so Facebook wouldn't delete it.

I think a good solution would be for Facebook to automatically deactivate (but
not delete) your account if you haven't logged in for a year. Thus, if you
ever go away for a while, forget about your account, etc. it will be there
when you get back, but if you've died, it's automatically removed (in a
sense).

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trickjarrett
Digital assets after death are still handled extremely poorly. In most cases
your information on the digital servers is your property, so you should be
able to direct your executor / executrix to notify the necessary sites and
have them act accordingly. However the action is not going to be speedy.

My option is to save all my necessary login informations, encrypt it, and
leave in my will for the executor/trix to handle and act out my instructions.

This topic is one I've pondered as a basis for a startup but I have yet to
find a really significant business plan surrounding it.

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AdilD
I agree that digital assets are barely a consideration for people especially
in relation to a topic like this. The idea of creating some sort of standard
way and turning it into a business is an intriguing one - why couldn't you
just have something akin to a password keeper (like a virtual security box)
that you must provide a person to pass onto in the event that you pass away?

I'd probably pay a small amount for that, assuming that the security features
were incredible.

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trickjarrett
Well if they just want a password keeper than they can use a desktop password
tracker and share the master key with the necessary people. What I'm talking
about is more akin to being an online executor rather than just a password
storage location.

Some of the issues I've considered:

1) Giving a password to someone is a major security hole. They could lose it,
it could be stolen, etc. This is going to be a key to your entire (ideally)
online presence. And for people with online wealth this poses a significant
issue.

2) This sort of system requires updating and ideally you'd want to make it as
simple as possible.

3) What if not all of your digital assets are online website accounts. What
about MMOs? Or FTPs etc. Online banking.

4) The digital information security as you mentioned will of course be a large
priority.

5) What if a client doesn't have someone to give their information to? Then it
would / could fall on us to be aware of his death. I haven't found a good way
to do this other than a rather morbid dead-man switch. Call them at some
frequency just to check up on them...

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jm4
There could be other reasons why they retain data. For example, it could be to
maintain data integrity. Let's say you've sent messages to people, left
comments, written on walls, etc. When you delete your account it's going to be
much easier to flip a flag somewhere to indicate that the account is no longer
active than it will be to remove any trace of your existence there.

Think about it. It's not an especially easy problem to solve. The data that
people put on the site can relate to each other. If you remove some pieces
those relationships break and context is lost. Not to mention, finding and
removing the data could be an intensive task, especially when it could be
scattered across many shards.

There's also the matter of how remaining users will feel when data you've left
for them suddenly disappears. If you've sent me a message and I chose to leave
it in my inbox indefinitely why should it vanish because you've decided to
delete your account? You sent it to me. Isn't it mine now?

The reasons for abandoning an account are independent of the reasons for
retaining the data associated with that account so they would be just as
applicable in the case of death. That said, I have no idea how Facebook would
handle the situation. It really seems to be an issue of control of the account
and not so much data retention.

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tokenadult
This is the reason my wife and I share Facebook passwords. Presumably, if one
of us dies, the other one will want to be able to rapidly revise the Facebook
page of the other. Maybe Facebook will die before either of us, but it's good
to plan ahead.

It's also possible to entirely delete a Facebook account.

<http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=16929680703>

I see the steps here include logging in as a particular Facebook member before
following a specified Facebook link, so that is why you and your loved ones
may wish to plan ahead for password exchanging (perhaps only effective on
death, as specified in a will).

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danw
There is a special 'In Memoriam' mode apparently, although I have yet to see
it.

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AdilD
Me to. I suppose, at least in my case, that's a good thing because it means no
one on my FB has passed away yet.

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bgnm2000
just googled <http://legacylocker.com> which seems to handle it

