What happens with a Facebook account when a person dies

Social networks are designed so that we can tell what happens to us, publish content, connect with our friends and, ultimately, share our lives. But what happens when that life stops being? What happens to a Facebook account when its user dies? Every day you tag, ask for friendship or wish a happy birthday to users who have actually already died. Nothing can be done? In .com we tell you what happens with a Facebook account when a person dies.

If nobody notifies Facebook, nothing happens

Facebook knows everything about us and may be able to detect if a user has died due to changes in your account and the messages left by your loved ones, but at the moment you are not using that information at all. Thus, if the owner of an account in the social network dies, but nobody notifies Facebook of the death, everything will remain the same. It will seem simply that suddenly the user has stopped using the social network.

Closing the account

Facebook learns that a user has died when a friend or relative so notified. To request that your account be closed, you must make a "Special request for the account of a deceased person" (you can access this page by looking in the Help section). Facebook will ask for your information, the full name of the deceased, your email, and the URL of your page. In addition, it will ask you what was your relationship with the deceased and what you want to do. One of the options is "Delete this account" . You will also have to provide the date of death and, if possible, a death certificate.

Conversion into commemorative account

Another option that you can choose from "Special request for the account of a deceased person" is to convert your account into commemorative . In this way, the account will be maintained with everything that the user had published. Next to your name will appear "In memory" and, depending on the privacy settings, your friends and family can post words of remembrance on your wall. These accounts, as is evident, can not return to normal status. Also, nobody can enter them with an email and password.

Legacy contact

Facebook has also begun to think about the subject of its deceased users, for what recently introduced the figure of legacy contacts (currently only available in the United States). Thus, any user could choose within their Facebook configuration who wants to take care of their account if it becomes commemorative. Much simpler than having to prove a relationship with the deceased and provide evidence of his death.

Whose data is it?

Can other people enter the Facebook account of a deceased user and see everything they had in private (photos, messages, etc.)? If they do not have the password, no. Facebook protects the privacy of its users until after death, so those secrets will go with him to the grave and can not be seen by his legacy contacts.

And what about the username?

Facebook does not allow repeated usernames, but this changes when a user dies. In these cases, their usernames are released and other users could claim them and get to use them themselves. At the end of the day, the original accounts could have been eliminated or simply have gone to the status of commemorative, but certainly not already active.