Friends and families of deceased users on Facebook will soon be given the option to turn their profiles into memorials. The new feature will be introduced as a result of several complaints regarding status updates and suggestions about deceased users, according to The Guardian.
Information that may be sensitive to relatives or friends of the deceased user, as well as status updates and contacts will be removed by Facebook after the person is confirmed to be dead (either through news articles, obituaries or other proof of death). The newly introduced "Suggestions" feature will no longer remind people to help their dead friend or relative either.
"We understand how difficult it can be for people to be reminded of those who are no longer with them, which is why it"s important when someone passes away that their friends or family contact Facebook to request that a profile be memorialized," said Max Kelly, the head of security at Facebook.
In addition, the privacy settings of the user"s profile are changed so that only confirmed Facebook friends can view the "memorialised" profile, or find it in search results. They can also post remembrance comments on the deceased person"s wall.
"When someone leaves us, they don"t leave our memories or our social network. To reflect that reality, we created the idea of "memorialized" profiles as a place where people can save and share their memories of those who"ve passed," Max said.