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K arlsruhe (dpa) – Since the death of a 15-year-old teenager in a Berlin subway station, parents live in a tormented uncertainty. Five and a half years later, the Federal Supreme Court (BGH) gives them the chance to finally make peace: Facebook must open them the account of the girl as heirs – the mother and father hope to have answers to their many questions find. The decision of the Supreme Court, which they won on Thursday, goes far beyond their personal destiny. This creates clarity, but also raises new questions. (Az III ZR 183/17)
What happened exactly?
At the end of 2012, the girl is hit by a subway, she dies in the hospital. The circumstances remain unclear: was it a misfortune? Or did the girl no longer want to live? Perhaps, think parents, are stored on Facebook chat messages that could illuminate the darkness. The pbadword that they had let say about the girl. But when they want to register, this is no longer possible: Since the reference of an unknown user on the death of the girl his account is frozen in the so-called memorial state. Same as Facebook with all accounts whose owners have not put their profile to delete after death.
Why the long conflict with Facebook?
Parents ask the group to unlock their account – first well, later by trial. But the network has its own rules. A speaker always expresses compbadion. But we must make sure that the personal exchange between people on Facebook is protected. In plain English: Anyone who has communicated privately with the girl has trusted that the parents do not read. That's why Facebook keeps the content under wraps.
Is there any legal requirement?
At least not clear. While private documents such as letters or newspapers usually fall into the hands of heirs, this is not obvious for digital content. For most emails, photos or chat logs are not at home on the hard drive, but on an Internet computer ("cloud"). The decision to give the data therefore depends on the suppliers. What a deceased wanted was often unclear: Four out of five Internet users did not regulate what would happen after death with their Internet accounts and their social media profiles, according to a representative online survey of the Internet. Bitkom Digital Association of 2017.
Has the BGH now decided?
The judges clearly said in principle: digital content is also inherited. The basis of this is the contract of use, which the deceased has entered into with the supplier. With his death, this contract pbades to the heirs. You have the right to see all the contents of the account – including the most personal. People traveling on social networks like Facebook must be prepared to keep private messages private. The BGH justified this with the fact that a provider such as Facebook does not forward the content to a specific person, but only to a specific account. The fact that someone who reads is never excluded.
What are the implications of the verdict?
This is not clear in detail. Experts such as Stephanie Herzog, a specialist in inheritance law, however, badume that BGH statements on Facebook can be transferred to messaging services such as WhatsApp or email accounts. In the future, any surfer must know that his heirs will also receive the entire digital heritage, said the lawyer after the verdict at the Phoenix station. If you do not want this, you need to leave a concrete impression of what should happen with which data. On another page is that encrypted communication via messaging services may not be available in clear text at the provider.
What does this mean for providers like Facebook?
The Group is low profile. A spokesman says only: "We will carefully badyze the judgment to badess the impact." It is already clear that the decision raises important questions: will it open in the future, the pages of all the dead users for heirs? How does this change private communication in social networks? And can the "state of remembrance," which excludes them all, remain so? The BGH immediately clarified that the clause would not stand up to judicial review
What Happens to the Victim's Parents?
They tell their lawyer that they are "extremely relieved". Facebook has always stressed that the group in the dispute by all instances go for legal certainty. "That's why we hope the company will grant us immediate access to our daughter's account and will not wait for us weeks, months or even years of agonizing waiting."
Judgment of the Berlin Court of Appeal of May 31, 2017
Judgment of the Landgericht Berlin of December 17, 2015
Secrecy of Telecommunications, § 88 TKG
Facebook on the treatment of the accounts of the deceased
Facebook Terms of Use
2017 Bitkom Inquiry
Opinion of the Lawyers Association
Statement of the Attorney on the Coalition Heritage Accord digital
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