The death of loved ones takes on a completely different dimension in the digital age: surviving relatives also have to worry about the virtual existence of the dead. And removing your digital identity is not always easy. It is estimated that there are between 10 and 20 million Facebook profiles worldwide whose owners are no longer alive. The reason for this is that most profiles are not deleted after the death of those involved. You must make a special request to remove them.
More and more Facebook accounts of the deceased
The number of Facebook users worldwide has been declining for some time, but in another category, the profiles of deceased users, the number is increasing sharply. The procedures to permanently delete the profile of a deceased Facebook user are not easy, and so it happens that many profiles continue to exist on the Internet. More and more deceased people are also haunting other social media platforms.
Internet profiles of deceased loved ones difficult to delete
Tracing the internet activities of a deceased person and dealing with them correctly can be a major challenge for the surviving relatives: it is not only time-consuming but often also emotionally very taxing. The legislator in many countries, on the other hand, usually views the matter very soberly. “Privacy ends in death,” is the opinion of many lawyers who deal with the issues of social media and e-commerce. A user’s personal information is not protected after his death, at least from a data protection perspective. So basically the same applies here as for the settlement of inheritances in the real world.
The legal position of the heirs
For example, heirs can boot a deceased person’s computer and read storage media such as USB drives. If the deceased had a website, it will belong to the surviving relatives from that moment on. Legally speaking , heirs of the deceased also assume the rights of the deceased: if they do not explicitly reject his inheritance, all rights and obligations are transferred to them. For example, they then become the new contract partner of an e-mail service or of the bank.
How to delete a Facebook profile of a deceased person?
Many Facebook users find it disturbing and very macabre that the Facebook accounts of the deceased are still activated. Many people are therefore wondering how to remove Facebook pages from the net. But what do you do when a Facebook user dies and you want to delete the profile from the internet?
Facebook profile of deceased persons in memorial status
Family members of a deceased Facebook user have the option to use a special form to request that the profile be marked as no longer active. However, Facebook will not delete the profile in question in that case, but will only put it in a so-called ,commemorative status,. This means that from that moment on, only ,friends, of the deceased will have access to the profile and can continue to post on it. Users often use this to express their condolences on the death of the deceased user. However, the deceased’s membership in groups will be removed.
Permanently delete a Facebook account
To permanently delete a Facebook account, you have to go into a bit more detail. For example, Facebook requires that an ,immediate family member, submit the application. To this end, a copy of the death certificate or other proof of the death of the Facebook user must be provided. This could also be an obituary or obituary from the newspaper, for example. Facebook requires these documents to be sent by post. Only then will the profile be permanently deleted!
However, if no family member of the deceased explicitly requests cancellation, the deceased’s profile will continue to exist in the cyber world indefinitely.