How Facebook's legacy contact can manage your profile after death
Nobody wants to talk, or even think, about the event of their death. It is morbid, but also something that we all must accept and be prepared for. This is particularly why Facebook has a system of legacy contact, which, just like a will, allows a trusted contact to take care of your account post your death. Here's what it means.
So, what is a legacy contact
Legacy contact is a trusted Facebook friend who can take care of your account after you are gone. This would be a person you trust so much that they could handle your account responsibly or download its data and delete it - if that's what you would have wanted. However, do note that legacy contact only gets access to select features, not full control.
How legacy contact would be managing your profile
Once your legacy contact submits the proof of your death, they get limited access to your memorialized timeline with 'Remembering' written over your name. They'll be able to view your previous posts and pin a tribute post on top. The contact won't be able to post or message as you, but they'd get the option to accept friend requests, change profile and cover photos.
How to setup legacy contact
To set up a legacy contact for your profile, head over to the 'Settings' section of your Facebook account from the home page and select the 'Manage account' option from the 'General' tab. From there, you will be able to choose a Facebook friend as your 'Legacy Contact' following which Facebook will notify them that you have chosen them.
Also, you can opt-in for data download
From the same page, you get the option to provide your legacy contact an option to download an archive of your data for safekeeping after your death. This would include posts, photos, videos that you have shared but not personal messages. Also, the legacy contact would even get the option to request the removal of your profile after your demise.
Even others can request removal by submitting added documents
Along with legacy contact, others can also get your profile removed, but in this case, they need to submit a proof of authority, like your will or power of attorney, as well as proof of death like an obituary or death certificate.
