[Infowarrior] - Facebook to keep profiles of the dead

[Richard Forno]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h09shWF_3mDwwyw_EJQUWs_NJz2QD9BJF8983

Facebook to keep profiles of the dead
By BARBARA ORTUTAY (AP) – 12 hours ago

NEW YORK — Death doesn't erase the online footprints that people leave  
in life and Facebook won't either, though it will make some changes.

The five-year-old social network will "memorialize" profiles of the  
dead if their friends or family request it.

Such accounts will be different from regular Facebook profiles.

For example, the site will remove any contact information and bar  
people from logging in. The person's profile also won't appear in the  
"suggestions" section of Facebook, and only the deceased person's  
confirmed friends will be able to find them in a search.

The development comes as Facebook becomes an important social hub for  
its more than 300 million active users worldwide to keep up with  
friends and family.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.