From Facebook to eternity

Facebook says it will memorialize users who pass away by keeping their Facebook profiles alive.

In a blog posting this week, Facebook Chief Security Officer Max Kelly wrote that "When an account is memorialized, we also set privacy so that only confirmed friends can see the profile or locate it in search. We try to protect the deceased's privacy by removing sensitive information such as contact information and status updates. Memorializing an account also prevents anyone from logging into it in the future, while still enabling friends and family to leave posts on the profile Wall in remembrance."

Notable Deaths in IT during 2009

IT Industry Graveyard 

Memorializing a person can avoid awkward situations, such as a deceased person showing up in the Suggestions section that now shows up on the right hand side of the page since Facebook's latest redesign last week. In fact, exactly that situation took place over the last week, prompting user complaints about the redesign and inspiring Kelly's blog post.

Kelly wrote that the issue of what to do with a deceased person's Facebook profile hit home with him a few years back when his best friend, a fellow Facebook employee, was tragically killed in a bicycling accident.

To memorialize a loved one on Facebook, contact the company here.