Digital Legacy: Accessing the digital world of your loved one

(Updated 11/6/20)

In this section of the website, there is information about ‘digital legacy’. ‘Digital legacy’ refers to what is left behind on the Web when someone has died. Sometimes this is called ‘digital footprints’. This include social media, websites, blogs and games – any and all of the places where we interact digitally with others, or upload content, photos or videos.

In the links below, you will find information about two aspects : The main focus is on accessing the digital legacy of our loved one who has passed away. The other aspect is the preparation of our own digital legacy.

LATEST (2019 onwards) – Reference articles

• News: Twitter won’t be deleting accounts of dead people – for now (BuzzFeed)
• News – updates about Facebook policies, 2019
• Digital Assets court ruling (UK) against Apple
• Step-by-step guides for preserving your own digital legacy

Interesting articles

• Love, Loss and Digital Legacies  (A young man’s personal experience of digital legacies)

• My disabled son’s amazing gaming life in the World of Warcraft    (A father describes how he got to know his deceased son by learning about his activity in this online game.)

CONTENTS  (before 2019)

• Privacy concerns and other considerations
• Accessing a device
• Accessing online accounts
• Accessing websites and email
• Digital memorials
• Facebook and online memorialisation
• Preparing your own digital legacy
• Remaining present after death (guest post)

Please note: The information in the posts above is generally accurate as far as concepts, but there could be practical details that have changed since they were first written. For instance, the policies of social media providers regarding the management of content belonging to the deceased changes over time. I hope nevertheless that the general principles will be useful.

If you have further useful information, or if you see inaccuracies or posts where updates are needed, I would greatly appreciate if you could please let me know. Thank you so much.

I also want to acknowledge that much of the older content in this section is courtesy of Vered (Rose) Shavit, author of Death In The Digital Era: A Useful Guide. This was published in 2015 and is no longer being updated. It is, however, still a useful document.  Please view it on Rose’s blog here.  

DISCLAIMER

I will echo the words of Vered Shavit:

The guide and blog were written out of good will. I do not intend to offer complete, detailed and full solutions for every one of the issues related to this sensitive subject. The information and advice given in this guide and in my blog were written out of a genuine will to assist, and should be considered as recommendations only, without obligation or guarantee. I take no responsibility for actions that may or may not be performed by the readers, based on these recommendations.

Clarification and Disclaimer: This guide was prepared for the purpose of public benefit in order to assist in information sharing only. The guide does not supplant the need for individuals to seek professional, personal and individual consultation with regard to individual cases. I shall not be liable or held responsible for any direct or indirect damages that relates to the content of this guide or the blog. Any person(s) relying on the information in this guide or in the blog does so by choice, any consequences being their sole responsibility.

(This page was last updated 10/6/20)