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Facebook's rules mean that when someone dies, his account is either commemorated and no one can connect to it or be permanently deleted, but the German High Court has decided that accounts can be inherited , allowing parents to access the data.
When a person dies, Facebook removes or remembers the account of the individual and no one can access it beyond sharing memories on the timeline. However, a recent decision by the German High Court could force Facebook to rethink its rules regarding these permanently locked accounts.
As Business Insider reports, the case in question was brought by the parents of a 15-year-old girl killed by a train back in 2012. They wanted to have access to his Facebook account to find out if she had talked about suicide before her death, but Facebook did not allow it because the account had been commemorated.
The Federal Court of Justice sits on the parent side and has decided that Facebook data, including messages, can be inherited in the same way as newspapers or physical letters. Facebook is not in agreement, explaining that "Facebook accounts are used for a personal exchange between individuals that we have the duty to protect."
Facebook is currently studying the judgment before deciding what to do, which could include opposing the decision. If he's allowed to stay, the decision could see the rules change on the social network, at least in Germany, regarding what happens to a Facebook account when the owner dies. It is unlikely that it will spread to the United States, but Facebook's data inheritance can become a European requirement.
Under the existing rules, Facebook allows a user to choose between permanently deleting his account or turning it into a commemorative account they die. If this choice is not made before death, the default option is to memorize. This means that the profile does not appear in public areas and no one can log in to the account anymore, but friends can share memories on the account calendar based on privacy settings.
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