Facebook rolled out some new settings this week that would make hacking into your loved one’s Facebook account after they die a thing of the past.
Under the new policy anyone is able to appoint a “legacy contact.”
This basically means that you can pick any one person in your Facebook network and they would “inherit” your Facebook account after you die. (You find this option under settings, security settings)
Under this new policy, legacy contacts would be able to:
(1) Respond to any new friend requests
(2) Post a message, as themselves, that could be displayed at the top of your FB account
(3) Change your profile picture
(4) Download an archive of your FB Timeline
They will not be able to:
(1) Delete/edit anything you posted or shared
(2) See your private messages
Facebook’s new policy accomplishes a few things for teens. For starters, it lessens the load when it comes to losing someone older, like a parent or grandparent. Now you won’t be the designated person who has to figure out how to hack into a loved one’s Facebook.
It also means that the conversation around grief and death may be a more socially acceptable one. Parents and teens should discuss what will happen with their digital presence, in the same way that physical possessions are discussed.
Some deaths are sudden and time to prep is nonexistent, by doing this now Facebook is bringing the decision making into the present when stress is lesser in comparison.
(If choosing a legacy contact isn’t something you or your loved ones want to do, there are two other options. One is asking FB to delete an account following the owner’s death. The other is asking FB to freeze an account and allow it to serve as a memorial.)
