This is a topic that is not common to hear in Latin American countries, but has taken an unusual boom in recent times, due to technological advances and digital issues that the whole world has had. In spite of this, in Germany a legal case has been presented that involves this topic and that perhaps marks a precedent in history.
The German justice published a long-awaited opinion on the "digital inheritance", giving the reason to a couple who demanded to Facebook access to the account of his deceased daughter. The parents went initially to Facebook, to retrieve the contents and conversations of their daughter in the social network, before she was run over by a subway car in Berlin, at age 15, in 2012. After the tragedy, the couple I expected to get an answer about the circumstances of his brutal death, was it an accident or suicide? they needed evidence to explain whether the girl wished to end her life or, on the contrary, it had all been part of an unfortunate accident.
For its part, Facebook argued that access to the data of the adolescent could violate the private contents of other users who communicated with her, and through a statement explained that: "Issues such as weighing the wishes of family members and protecting the privacy of Third parties are some of the most difficult issues we face, we empathize with the family, and at the same time, Facebook accounts are used to generate a personal exchange between individuals that we have a duty to protect. "
The case has lasted years in discussion, since the year 2012 in which the death of the young woman occurred until 2015, the first decision was obtained, at that time the court agreed with the parents. The Berlin court considered that the contract signed between the user and Facebook fell within the scope of the succession, including digital content published in the account. As the deceased was a minor, the parents had the right to know when and with whom they communicated on Facebook, they had also considered the judges.
But two years later the Court of Appeal of Berlin adopted the reverse position and joined the US giant's argument about respect for private life. This Court recalled that "the secret of telecommunications is guaranteed by the fundamental law" in Germany and also applies to the contents of Facebook accounts.
After this, last month the German Federal Court of Justice of Karlsruhe ruled on this matter, and finally gave the reason to the parents. In other words, after years of struggle, they managed to access their daughter's Facebook account and obtain the information they searched for years. Thus marking a precedent in the legal field.
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