Latest news with #digitallegacy
The National
17 hours ago
- The National
Digital legacy: When you die, who's going to tell the internet?
After her husband Alan's death, Gina Seymour found dealing with all his online accounts and virtual paperwork was 'pretty close to a nightmare'. Alan died in 2018, aged 57, after suffering a brain haemorrhage that meant he had been unable to prepare for what would happen to his online life. 'It was a struggle because you don't realise or you forget how many accounts there are,' says Mrs Seymour, an author who works as a school librarian in Long Island, New York. 'Most of them are used every day, like your Gmail, and others only come up once in a while, or once a year, or you don't use [them] as frequently. 'Just when you think you're done, you're actually not. You missed one. It's stressful, to say the least.' Mrs Seymour's experience highlights the issue of 'digital legacy', the way in which almost everyone today has an online presence – and it often cannot simply be forgotten after their death. Many of us have digital accounts for, at least, banking, investments, shopping, tax and messaging. Pass on your password According to password management company NordPass, the average person has 168 passwords, of which 87 are for business-related online accounts. That creates significant challenges for someone dealing with a loved one's digital legacy, especially if that person did not leave behind account details and passwords. 'So many things in our lives have shifted online or have online components. The biggest problem is logistical headaches,' says Dr Jed Brubaker, an associate professor of information science at the University of Colorado Boulder. 'We have so many things that are new, that don't have pre-digital analogues. Maybe your partner was the person who managed your monthly mortgage payment and it went to their email, and all of a sudden you no longer have access to their email. You can think of all of the standard things that now have this additional digital layer.' While these practical issues are important – and very taxing for surviving relatives dealing with them – a person's digital legacy also encompasses things of great sentimental value, notably photographs and videos. Items that were traditionally passed down, such as photo albums, now often exist only in a mobile phone or in the cloud in remote servers, and may be beyond the reach of relatives who do not have access credentials. Dr Brubaker, who manages a free digital legacy clinic run by students, says photos are what bereaved relatives care about the most, although videos are becoming increasingly important. 'In end-of-life plans we're ensuring that people have set them up such that their loved ones can gain access to what is effectively the modern-day scrapbook,' he says. If the bereaved cannot view or download a relative's pictures it can cause what James Norris, founder of the UK-based Digital Legacy Association, describes as a second loss. 'After you have lost someone, you can have a feeling of losing something else from that person,' he says. Major internet companies, such as Apple, Facebok owner Meta and Google, typically have a legacy contact feature, enabling users to designate an individual to deal with their online presence after their death. 'If you have set up plans in advance you have access to download the photos and save them locally,' Mr Norris says. The association recommends that individuals and health and social care providers consider digital assets during end-of-life planning. 'We're based in a hospice provider,' he says. 'Often the conversation we have with patients is: 'Have you got a password on your mobile phone?' They would say yes. 'If they haven't told anyone their password, their digital legacy planning is simply telling their son or partner or grandchild their password so they can access their photos. 'The main thing is for each person to think about each of their online accounts and make suitable plans based on the content and the relationship with loved ones.' Curate your digital legacy People wanting to curate their digital legacy can turn to numerous specialist sites. Among them is Inalife, set up by Nicholas Worley, a British communications professional in Hong Kong. Mr Worley, the father of three young sons, was partly inspired to set up the site, which went live in 2023, by the experience of becoming a parent. 'I thought it would be quite nice if they could have memories of when they were younger – their first swimming lesson, their first steps, all those sorts of things,' he says. Some of his father's family's photos in the UK were destroyed during the Second World War, which has highlighted to Mr Worley the risks of having only a single hard copy of an image. 'It's easier to save things digitally and to have that as a back-up. I wanted to save things across generations, and technology helps you do that,' he says. 'Most people tend not to think about it unless they're older or facing an illness. It's the same with most legacy planning. Giving more attention to it is important.' Users can create sub-profiles for relatives and sub-accounts for children, to whom ownership can be transferred at a particular time, such as when they turn 18. When it comes to public sites such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn, people might want to consider how much of what they have uploaded they would like to remain on view after their death. Some people may prefer accounts to be deleted. 'Everything that we put online, it stays there, unless a company goes bankrupt or the site has a plan in place. There's a lot of our lives out there online,' says Dr Heather Moorefield-Lang, an associate professor of information, library and research sciences at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. 'You have to make your choices as to what you might want people to shut down for you. Are you fine just leaving it out there?' Dr Moorefield-Lang says many people are uncomfortable talking about death, dying and what will happen afterwards, but trying to sort things out after someone has died is no easier. 'Planning and communication takes care of a whole lot of issues later, if your kids and your friends aren't sure what you want,' she says. 'You want to take as much off their shoulders as possible, even if it's just sitting down and talking about it. It costs nothing but time.' After the difficulties of dealing with her late husband's digital legacy, Mrs Seymour has made sure that things will be easier for her children when she dies. She has written details of her online accounts and passwords in a book. 'I know the first rule of internet safety is 'don't write your passwords down',' she says. 'But you have got to write that stuff down. It's in a book, it's all there. The only people who know where it is are my children.'
Fast Company
12-06-2025
- Health
- Fast Company
How to prepare for your digital legacy after death
From family photos in the cloud to email archives and social media accounts, the digital lives of Americans are extensive and growing. According to recent studies by the password management companies NordPass and Dashlane, the average internet user maintains more than 150 online accounts. Individuals produce hundreds of gigabytes of data each year. But few people have plans for what happens to that digital legacy after they die. Unlike physical possessions, online assets often don't pass smoothly from one generation to the next. Loved ones struggle to access important accounts or recover treasured photos. Many families face these challenges while already overwhelmed with grief. Most tech companies haven't kept up with this reality. Fewer than 15% of popular online platforms have clear systems for handling a user's death, and customer support is often limited, according to our new study. As people's 'digital footprints' expand, the lack of planning has become both a practical and emotional burden for families. This is especially true for older adults who may not be aware of the steps required to manage their digital estate. We are an associate professor of information science and a researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder. We are researching how to design technologies for people engaged in end-of-life planning for their data. First clinic of its kind We realized there was no organization or comprehensive website to help people navigate the technical, privacy, or practical challenges they were facing. In response, we launched what we believe is a first-of-its-kind solution: the Digital Legacy Clinic. Just as writing a will helps manage physical possessions after death, planning your digital legacy ensures that your online life is handled according to your wishes. Our clinic opened in late 2024. The free clinic offers support both to people planning for the end of their digital lives and to those managing the digital estates of loved ones who have died. Led by students and housed in the University of Colorado Boulder's information science department, the clinic operates much like a pro bono law clinic. Community members in the Denver and Boulder areas, as well as from across the country, can contact the clinic for help. First, a person interested in getting support fills out a simple form. Then, a member of the clinic will send a follow-up email to clarify and offer preliminary advice. Since every case is different, often clinic workers will then meet via Zoom with a client to create a personalized plan for them and their family. How the clinic helps The clinic offers guidance on a wide range of digital estate concerns, including setting up digital legacy tools such as trusted contacts on Google and Apple or legacy contacts on Facebook —someone you choose to manage your main profile after you've died. People can also get guidance on how to memorialize or delete social media or other online accounts after a loved one has died. For example, Facebook allows you to either memorialize an account or request its removal. To memorialize it, you'll need to submit a form with the person's name; date of death; proof of passing, such as an obituary; and verify your relationship to the deceased. Including these steps can help your loved ones manage a digital legacy with clarity and care. The clinic also helps people recover and preserve digital assets. That includes photos, videos, emails, and other important documents, such as legal documents stored on a Google Drive. For those who are planning for after they die, the clinic can guide them in creating a digital estate plan. That plan might include inventorying online accounts, documenting login credentials, and leaving instructions for account closure, or determining steps to email the documents to your lawyer. Students supporting their community The ongoing work of the clinic is run entirely by undergraduate and graduate students, who build and maintain the clinic's website, manage the client intake process, and research solutions tailored to each case. For the students, it's a hands-on learning opportunity that connects academic work to real-world needs. The experience is also professionally valuable. Students learn how to communicate complex tech topics with empathy, navigate privacy laws, and manage sensitive data responsibly. A resource for older adults While the Digital Legacy Clinic is available to people across the country, its location in Boulder makes it especially accessible to older adults in the Boulder and Denver areas who may prefer or benefit from in-person support. For older adults, the clinic can play a crucial role in helping them organize their digital lives while they're still alive. This can reduce confusion for loved ones later and even help prevent issues such as identity theft or account misuse. Many older adults now maintain extensive online presences, but they may not have the tools or knowledge to ensure their accounts are secure and accessible to people they trust.
