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New Facebook Feature Lets Users Determine What Happens To Their Account After They Die

By social media editor Melony Roy

MENLO PARK, Calif. (CBS) -- Facebook has rolled out a new feature that allows users to designate a specific friend who will be able to access their account after they die.

The feature is called "legacy contact," and it appears in Facebook's security settings menu.

As a user, you can select a specific Facebook friend who will be able to control certain aspects of your page.  Alternatively, users can also opt to have their account deleted after they pass away.

The legacy contact will be able to pin posts to the top of a page, respond to incoming friend requests, and control the profile and header image on an account.

Facebook is also making changes to the appearance of these "memorialized" accounts, which will now have a "remembering" label before the name to let others know it's an account of someone who has passed away.

The legacy contact setting is available now to Facebook users in the United States.

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