Facebook Will Now Be With Australians In Death

When you die, Facebook will be there for your loved ones.

The company has rolled out its legacy contact feature in Australia, so you can select one person who can access your account after you die. The feature was released by Facebook in the U.S. in February, but launches in Australia and New Zealand on Wednesday, the social media giant confirmed.

According to Facebook, the legacy contact feature allows your selected person to pin a post on your profile, respond to friend requests and update your profile picture and cover photo. They will not be able to log into your account, see private messages or edit anything from your past.

To add the feature, go to Facebook settings, security settings and choose a legacy contact. The option is available to give permission to your chosen person to download a copy of your Facebook history. It is in these settings you can also instruct your Facebook account to self-destruct in the event of your death, rather than giving someone access.

 

Facebook has been contacted for comment regarding the local rollout.

The move follows an Australian family’s devastation after the Facebook page of their loved one was deleted after his death. The company removed the profile of father-of-six Daniel Cook after a request from “verified immediate family members,” according to the Brisbane Times.

His family have been left devastated after the page was closed down before photos or memories could be saved, prompting his former partner to start a petition to have the page reinstated. “It’s just another link that [his children] have to him, where they can go and see all the memories they’ve made with him and posts that he felt it was important to share and just a reminder of who he was,” she told the publication.

Via Mashable