Louise Palmer’s 19-year-old- daughter, Becky, died from a brain tumor in December 2010. Since that time, Louise would login to Becky’s account to find comfort from her Facebook profile page and by reading her old messages.

About a month ago, she attempted to login to her daughter’s account, but she was met with a Facebook notification that the account had been memorialized. She pressed Facebook for the login details, but Facebook refused on the grounds that it invaded Becky’s privacy.

It is important to note that Louise had been given full access to the account by her daughter. Becky suffered from a seizure in January of 2010, and this made it impossible for her to read or write for more than a few sentences at a time. Louise would log in to her account and update her on what was going on with her Facebook friends.

It appears that someone, obviously other than Louise, reported Becky’s account to Facebook. The following is taken from the Facebook Help Center in regards to memorialized accounts:

Memorializing the account:

It is our policy to memorialize all deceased users’ accounts on the site. When an account is memorialized, only confirmed friends can see the profile (timeline) or locate it in Search. The profile (timeline) will also no longer appear in the Suggestions section of the Home page. Friends and family can leave posts in remembrance. 

In order to protect the privacy of the deceased user, we cannot provide login information for the account to anyone. However, once an account has been memorialized, it is completely secure and cannot be accessed or altered by anyone. 

If you need to report a profile (timeline) to be memorialized, please click here.

Removing the account:

Verified immediate family members may request the removal of a loved one’s account from the site.

Since the account is memorialized, people can post to the wall, but Louise can’t remove any spam. She is outraged because now her daughter’s page “looks like an uncared-for grave with weeds growing on it.”

A Facebook group has been established with the purpose of having her daughter’s Facebook page reinstated. Louise stated, “We just want Facebook to show some compassion.”

Do you agree with Facebook’s policy of not allowing anyone to login to memorialized accounts?

Another option would be to allow the deceased person’s Trusted Friends  to determine if the account should remain open or be memorialized, or the person could specify their wishes in a legal document prior to their passing.

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