facebook death Facebook: Til Death Do Us (Not) Part

What happens to your Facebook profile if you die?  You just have someone contact them and have it removed right?

Wrong!

When Emmy-award winning journalist William Bemister passed away in November of 2008, his sister Stephanie decided to have his profile removed from Facebook.  Easy enough, right?

As it turns out, during what is most likely a time of grief and mourning, Facebook makes it as difficult as possible for your profile to be deleted.

Ms. Bemister sent Facebook a copy of her brother's death certificate.  Facebook replied by refusing to remove the profile.  Here is the text of that reply:

"Per our policy for deceased users, we have memorialized this person's account. This removes certain more sensitive information and sets privacy so that only confirmed friends can see the profile or find the person in search. The Wall remains so that friends and family can leave posts in remembrance."

After much poking and prodding, Facebook finally offered up the real reason for their refusal: Ms. Bemister only said that she was a "relative". She didn't mention that she was "next of kin".

Guess what, if you thought that a confusing TOS was the worst problem Facebook had, think again.

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