Ask HN: How to obtain the FB activity logs of a missing person?

[aanastasov]

A person I know has gone missing, and the last bit of information about him is a Facebook post that he posted 3 days after any of his relatives have heard of him. It has been more than 15 days since he has gone missing, and his relatives came up with the idea to inspect his activity logs with the hope to locate where he was, and whether he has logged in on Facebook again. Now, this sounded like a scenario that has happened before, and I googled for some information. It turns out that only a law enforcement officer can request such activity logs: https://www.facebook.com/help/174766325911479?ref=u2u. I would want to know if there is anything else that could help to speed this up.

[runjake]

Preface: Throughout these steps, it is in your best interest to be polite, calm, brief and to the point, and respectful of everyone's time. Genuinely thank everyone for their time and give your contact info to anyone who will take it.

1. File a missing person's report.

2.Wait 1-2 days and politely request the contact details for the assigned detective.

3. Politely call the assigned detective and briefly request they subpoena Facebook for activity logs.

[greenyoda]

I doubt that Facebook would ever turn over his information to you or his family. Your best bet is probably to file a missing person report with the police.

[afarrell]

I would be pretty shocked. Imagine if Facebook did have a process for handling these kinds of requests directly from friends/family/romantic partners rather than working with law enforcement. This could be an excellent way for abusive partners/parents to track down runaways and bring them back under their control.

[akulbe]

Unless you're law enforcement, good luck. I hope you find who you're looking for, through other means.

[michaelfindlay]

I would imagine law enforcement / police should be able to request this if the person has been missing a certain amount of time. But I personally feel it would be better to only let the police request it, rather than personal individuals as it would raise a lot of privacy questions.

[meric]

Report to law enforcement.