In 2012 a 15-year-old girl was killed when she was hit by a train in the Berlin metro. Not knowing whether the death of her daughter was suicide or an accident, her mother decided to log on to her daughter’s Facebook account and read her messages in the hope that this would resolve the matter.
After attempting unsuccessfully to guess the password, the mother asked Facebook to provide her with her daughter’s details and allow her to read private conversations. Facebook refused to grant access to the account, which had been changed to a “memorialised” account. In effect the account was frozen, and the timeline was being used as a place for friends to share memories of the deceased girl.
Continue reading “Are parents entitled to access the Facebook account of a deceased child?”