Is Facebook Part of Your Estate?

MPs and lawyers in the United States are considering proposals to require Facebook and other social networks to grant access to loved ones when a family member dies, essentially making the site contents part of a person's digital estate.

The issue is growing increasingly important as people record more thoughts and experiences online and as more disputes break out over the material.

When Karen Williams' son died in a motorcycle crash, the Oregon woman turned to his Facebook account in hopes of learning more about the young man she had lost.

Williams found his password and emailed the company, asking administrators to maintain 22-year-old Loren Williams' account so she could pore through his posts and comments by his friends.

But within two hours, she said, Facebook changed the password, blocking her efforts.

She ultimately got back into her son's account, but it took a lawsuit and a two-year legal battle that ended with Facebook granting her 10 months of access before her son's page was removed.

Nebraska is reviewing legislation modelled on a law in Oklahoma, which last year became the first state to take action.

"Mementos, shoeboxes with photos. That, we knew how to distribute once someone passed away," said Ryan Kiesel, a former legislator who wrote the Oklahoma law.

"We wanted to get state law and attorneys to begin thinking about the digital estate."

Under Facebook's current policy, deaths can be reported in an online form. When the site learns of a death, it puts that person's account in a memorialized state.

Certain information is removed, and privacy is restricted to friends only. The profile and wall are left up so friends and loved ones can make posts in remembrance.

Facebook will provide the estate of the deceased with a download of the account data "if prior consent is obtained from or decreed by the deceased or mandated by law".

If a close relative asks that a profile be removed, Facebook will honour that request, too.

Like the Oklahoma law, the Nebraska bill will allow friends or relatives to take control of social media accounts if the deceased person lives in the state.

Full Article and Source:
Is Facebook Part of Your Estate?

Follow NASGA on Facebook!