FB wants tab on profiles after death

With over 2 billion people on Facebook having digital profiles giving details of life events and thoughts of a persons, the online social media service wanted users to check their profile annually and memorialise it after death.

Facebook allowed people to choose what to do with their account once a person died like a ‘Facebook will’. A user could choose to either appoint a legacy contact to look after the account or have it permanently deleted. If a user did not want to delete the account, it would be memorialised if Facebook was notified about the death. Memorialising the account meant that a user had to pick someone to handle the account after their death.

While this feature was made available quite some time back, it was imperative for Facebook users to annually review their settings. They could change their mind or want to update their legacy contacts considering the circumstances of their personal life.

A user, Ms Sneha Reddy, said, “I was aware of Facebook legacy contact, but recently I got a notification saying this is an annual reminder to check that your contact settings are still how you want them. I think it is good that they are checking annually, because previously I put the name of a friend who is currently abroad. I could change my contact to my husband’s name as I got married recently.”

Only the person, legacy contact, selected by the account holder can handle a memorialised account.

However, Facebook never provides login credentials or access to any contacts under any circumstances.

■ Memorialising the account means that a user had to pick someone to handle the account after their death.