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New judgment Facebook account of a deceased child comes to the grave
Facebook does not have to give parents access to their deceased child's Facebook account. The protection of the secrecy of telecommunications enshrined in the Basic Law is contrary to the parents' claim, the Berlin Court of Appeal ruled on Wednesday, 31 May 2017 (Ref .: 21 U 9/16). Even if the parents only see the communication of their deceased child with third persons and thus gain knowledge about their death, the access to the Facebook account can not be granted.
Background of the lawsuit was the tragic death of a 15-year-old girl who was captured in 2012 in a Berlin subway station by a train. The parents suspected a suicide. To clarify the circumstances of death, they wanted to get access to their daughter's Facebook account. It could be that they talked to other Facebook friends about problems or suffered bullying by chat message and the suicide so announced, suspected the parents.
(Image: Gesina Ottner / fotolia.com) But Facebook refused access to the account, relying on privacy. Third parties who have communicated with the girl would be entitled to keep these chat conversations private.
The US company had blocked access to the deceased girl's Facebook account after a user pointed out the adolescent's death. The public Facebook page of the girl could then be viewed by other users. There was pointed to the death of the 15-year-olds and invited to commemoration. However, nobody could log in to the account with the access data to check the chat messages.
The mother then wanted to force a complaint Facebook for inspection of the account of her deceased daughter. She also has the access data, which indicates that she is entitled to do so. In addition, she and the father are the heirs. Therefore, they would also inherit the Facebook account.
The Court of Appeal ruled that Facebook does not have to give the parents access to the deceased daughter's Facebook account.
The Berlin judges left open whether the parents, as heirs, had entered into the contract, which the daughter had closed with Facebook. On the one hand, this is not excluded by the Facebook Terms of Use. On the other hand, the Civil Code of Inheritance presupposes that the legal positions to be inherited are "somehow embodied in the property of the deceased rather than just virtual," states the ruling.
The question of the inheritance of the Facebook account must not be decided. Because Facebook is obliged to respect the anchored in the Basic Law telecommunications secrecy. It also means that the private communication between the deceased and third persons is protected.
The telecommunications secrecy extends after a decision of the Federal Constitutional Court also on e-mails, which are stored on the server of a Provider. Although the secrecy of telecommunications can be restricted by law. However, the legislature did not provide such an exception in inheritance law.
The mother could not rely on the fact that she had the access data to the account of her daughter and they thus the communication according to the will of her child may also see. Because it lacks the consent of those who have chatted with the deceased daughter.
Finally, the insight can not be derived with the right of parents to "parental care". Because this right goes out with the death of the child. The death benefits also do not serve to derive a claim for access to the social media account. The understandable wish of the parents to clarify the background of the tragic death of their child, also do not establish a duty of Facebook to grant access to the daughter's account.
The Court of Appeal approved the revision of the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe. fle / mwo / fle