What happens to a Pinterest account when someone dies
Pinterest publishes its own process for a deceased person's account; a request goes in through Pinterest's online form.
Pinterest decides what happens to a Pinterest account after a death case by case; its terms promise no transfer.
Pinterest publishes its own process for a deceased person's account: Delete a deceased person's account; a request goes in through Pinterest's online form. The request takes 3 documents.
How to request a transfer
- •The requester's full name and relationship to the deceased
- •The deceased's full name, email on file and Pinterest profile URL
- •An obituary or death certificate
- •Any further proof of relationship support asks for during the review
Required Documents
- Proof of death: Pinterest asks for verification such as an obituary or a death certificate.
- The deceased's full name, email on file and Pinterest profile URL
- The requester's relationship to the deceased: Pinterest may ask for additional proof during the review.
What Pinterest, Inc.'s terms say at death
- Section 2(b)
“we hereby grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable and revocable license to access and use the Service as contemplated under these Terms and our policies.”1
What Pinterest, Inc. says happens9
- Transfer at death
Section 13(b) of the Terms states that the Terms, and any rights and licenses granted under them, may not be transferred or assigned by the user; Pinterest offers no transfer of a deceased user's account.1
- Memorialization
Pinterest has no memorialization option; the only option for a deceased user is account deletion. The Contact us form's "Account access and closure" category carries a "Deactivate or close account" option and no memorialization option.2, 3
- Deletion and data retention
Once Pinterest deletes the account, it is not accessible anymore. Deletion removes boards, pins, followers, following lists and all personal data, with no selective preservation.2
Pinterest's privacy policy states that some operational data, such as information needed for litigation or regulatory proceedings, support correspondence kept for 2 years and data under law-enforcement preservation orders, can be kept longer, apart from the public account.4
- Closing the account
Deactivation hides the profile and boards but keeps the data and the email and username on file, and the account can be reactivated by logging back in. Deletion removes the account permanently.2
- Restoring a deleted account
On the standard user-initiated deletion path, the account and personal data are permanently deleted in 7 days, and the deletion can be cancelled by logging in during that window.2
- Passwords and login
Pinterest states that, to respect the privacy of people on Pinterest, it cannot give out any personal or login information about a deceased user's account.2
- Disclosure of account content
Pinterest does not provide data exports on behalf of a deceased user: only the account holder can access their data, after Pinterest verifies that they are the account holder.5
- Balances, payouts and refunds
Outstanding bills on a Business account are cleared by removing the payment information before the account is deleted, and any unsettled balance is charged to the card on file when the spend occurred.2
- Continuing a shop, channel or listing
Any remaining Business Manager users keep their existing access to ad accounts and shared resources after the personal account is deleted.2
Not in Pinterest's published guidance8
- How long a request takes
- A mailing address for a written request
- A form for estate requests
- A dedicated email address for deceased-user requests
- A comprehensive list of the documents to send
- An executor or authorized-agent route for personal data requests
- Creator payouts after a death
- A death or decedent clause in the Terms of Service
A written request to Pinterest can ask it to close the account and preserve the account while the estate is opened.
Digital Assets Recovery Letter for Pinterest drafts that request from the estate's details.
Sources
Data sourced from Pinterest, Inc. primary sources (5 pages reviewed). How we research.
Pinterest estate claims
Pinterest Contact us form (Account access and closure)
Website
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