Ride the Lightning

Cybersecurity and Future of Law Practice Blog
by Sharon D. Nelson Esq., President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc.

Facebook Allows You to Appoint a Legacy Contact – Just Wait for the Complications!

February 17, 2015

While I concede that a Legacy Contact makes a certain amount of sense – and will work MOST of the time, I see trouble coming around the corner. Here's what Facebook has to say:

What is a legacy contact?

A legacy contact is someone you choose to look after your account if it's memorialized. Once your account is memorialized, your legacy contact will have the option to do things like:

  • Write a pinned post for your profile (ex: to share a final message on your behalf or provide information about a memorial service)
  • Respond to new friend requests (ex: old friends or family members who weren't yet on Facebook)
  • Update your profile picture and cover photo

There are things they can't do (see list here) but we live in a world where people think reality shows are real and where revenge porn is an everyday occurrence.

So here's what I foresee. Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy. They get married (or don't). And let's be modern about this. Girl loves girl and girl loves her back. Boy loves boy and boy loves him back.

As readers know, I live in the digital forensics world, where folks (married or not) break up. They often don't think to change EVEN their e-mail password. So you think they are going to remember to change their legacy guardian? A lot of them will not. Let the mischief begin.

Angry ex-lovers/spouses could post a photo (as your profile picture) of you six sheets to the wind and dancing on the bar in less than appropriate attire. And that's a mild image. They might have some really interesting things to post about you. Your final message could be quite the pièce de résistance. Burn in H*** you b****. Or b******. And there will be details to back up that sentiment.

You think digging a key into the side of your pretty little souped-up 4-wheel drive is bad? Just wait.

Having seen it all from disenchanted lovers/spouses, I would imagine they'll find whole new universes of revenge to explore. Will Facebook help out to undo the damage? Maybe. Maybe not. Quickly? Probably not. Could this present a legal issue on which someone might have to act? Of course.

I believe fervently in the malicious creativity of former lovers/spouses. I will report on that creativity as events unfold.

E-mail:    Phone: 703-359-0700
Digital Forensics/Information Security/Information Technology
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