[ad_1]
The BGH decided that a mother can access the Facebook account of her deceased daughter. In their justification, the judges established the parallel with the paper documents
By Gigi Deppe, ARD-Rechtsredaktion
Anyone who registered on Facebook signs a contract with Facebook. And this contract, like objects and other contracts, is inherited simply. So parents must have access to the Facebook account of their deceased daughter, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ruled.
Although it may be excluded in a contract that such an account be inherited, says the federal judge. But that did not happen here. The small print of Facebook did not contain anything. And the rules of Facebook, according to which an account is put in the so-called memorial state, with which the account is frozen so to speak – they are simply ineffective.
Newspapers and letters easily inherited
Of the nature of the contract would also not, according to presiding judge Ulrich Herrmann, that only one person should have access to protect others, namely the chat partners. Because if someone writes, go to an account. Thus, it is not yet certain that only the owner of the account really reads the case: " During the plaintiff's life, it is to be expected that the 39; third party access is misused Allow access to account content or otherwise disclosed. "
Meaning: either someone steals the password, or the Facebook client allows others to read with she. Or she even transmits the message to a third party. The Judges Draw a Parallel to the Paper Documents: " Thus, similar documents such as diaries and personal letters are inherited easily and there is no hereditary reason to treat digital content differently. . "
Suicide notes?
In this particular case, the parents of the girl, who died in 2012 in a Berlin subway station, paid to go to the highest German civil court. They can now check if their child has been bullied or if there is evidence of suicide on their Facebook account.
You can also use this information in another process. The subway driver sued as heirs of the girl, on pain and suffering: the girl deliberately caused her death and thus hurt her. If there is no evidence on Facebook, parents could defend this action after all a little easier
judgment also important for e-mail accounts
significance of the verdict but not just for Facebook, but also for fairly regular email mail accounts. This ensures that heirs are allowed access to the deceased's e-mail accounts. According to the probate lawyer Stephanie Herzog: "You just have to wait for it to go to the heirs after death." This can not be applied differently in the digital world.
Parents should settle a succession The necessary information arrives – and it would only be on mail accounts. Therefore, they must necessarily be inherited.
Source link
