Digital Life After Death

‘When I die… delete my browser history’

What happens when we die? All the thought and information that our memories would have created, collected, processed and concluded over a life span becomes another whisper to the wind. We enter into an absent presence where our physical creation, efforts and thoughts are what live on and for that we are remembered. In our great age of communication, we are all somewhat striving towards this amongst our friends, family and randoms from around the digital globe who care enough to pay attention (whether we realise this or not). It’s important to consider our online activity both in relation to the present and the future. More than ever, we are sharing and expressing ourselves on online platforms and services that accumulate the information into their servers for as long as they’re alive, using it at will. But what is or can be done with a deceased user’s accounts?

Each major company have their specified methods of dealing with a deceased persons profile. At the request of the users estate, Facebook has the option for an account to either be deleted or become a ‘Memorialization Page’, quite a nice idea for others to be informed and pay their respects. However they do not allow login details or, although the user is allowed, access a complete person’s archive as it is a breach of their privacy policies. Facebook fight incredibly hard to respect these policies, as seen in the example of Ricky and Diane Rash who had a number of issues gaining access to their deceased son’s profile.

Both Twitter and Instagram have similar policies to each other. Both deactivate the account after official documentation is provided and neither do a memorial page as well as not allowing login access to a deceased’s account. But as both these platforms are public, it is already visible to all.

For emails the different companies all have their specified policies. Google stands out as it features an ‘Inactive Account Manager’ function; an account holder can opt to have a trusted friend or family member sent an email in the event of their account being inactive for a certain time.

It’s quite a strange concept to consider but we need to give some thought to what happens to our online profiles and property after we die. Both make up a huge part of many people’s lives and yet they are overlooked, probably due to the primary user generation (us!) not yet perishing. For example an iTunes account, with all the songs, movies, apps that they’ve bought, dies with the person. Essentially we are buying a license to the products on the iTunes store, as sharing it is technically illegal. So unfortunately no passing on the ‘Pre-Drink Playlist’ to the grand-kids.

Of course there is one way to get around this; simply list main passwords on a document that is then passed on to a trusted person upon demise. It’s essentially passing on an online, media legacy!

*please forgive, some, of my downloads.*

There’s something I’m sure we all have to consider here: which digital accounts do you pass on? Do we allow for our social media profiles and email accounts not to be deleted, to be what were photographs and letters in the past? A collection of ourselves to pass onto future generations so they can understand their family history from a first hand perspective? It’s a chilling thought; we change as we get older, our thoughts, perception, understanding. In essence, we would be giving equal value to being remembered for a stupid, teenage sentiment as well as the greater aspects of our life. There’s also the huge risk of the accounts being used inappropriately after. Or, like in Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror episode ‘Be Right Back’, maybe our online thoughts should be stored, eventually transferred into a synthetic robot body that can carry life on for you according to your previous digital sentiments. (Trolls will hopefully be banned from this service.)

To help this modern day conundrum I believe that digital wills, wills specifically designed to cater to our digital lives, should be made more apparent and part of the whole will process. There are services such as Cirrus Legacy that can manage these key details to a designated trustee, much like how Google conducts itself. There’s a three-step process in preparing a digital will, made up of:

· Awareness — write a proper inventory of all online accounts, so that loved ones know they exist.

· Access — work out what details are necessary to gain entry to the accounts.

· Wishes — detail who you want to grant access to, and whether you want data destroyed, passed on, or sent to a third party.

This is a pretty comprehensive overview of a person’s (known) digital activity and can certainly smooth the process for the grieving. The threat of hacking, like any web-based company, is possible but as the company mainly deals with personal details, they assure that security is paramount.

With ever increasing amounts of user time and from even younger ages, it’s a good idea to be prepared with some sort of digital plan or will for after death. Digital activity makes up such a large part of our modern lives; with the amount of accumulated information by the end of a person’s life, it should serve some purpose rather than going to waste. It can be an extension or reminder of a loved one for countless future generations; it would be wise to prepare a specified and designated wish for our future image. After all, our online legacy can be around longer than we are.

And, of course, it saves having to delete Internet history files and online profiles from the death bed, perhaps spending those last moments with real loved ones rather than digital.

Thanks for reading. Follow me on Twitter @ArdzAttack

Note: This blog was triggered by the death of a great man this week. Robin Williams: thank you for your comedy, charisma, acting ability and wit turning any cloudy day bright again. You will be missed.