What Should Happen to Our Data When We Die?
40 emails, 145 minutes of Instagram, 3 google searches. That’s the average amount people send, spend or google per day. In fact, we now send so much data across the internet that some philosophers believe that the self is no longer only governed by the body and mind; but rather our digital self must also be considered. If our digital side is such a vital part of the self, it must also be such a vital part of our legacy. This means that when we die, we leave behind two corpses: the physical and the digital.
The physical corpse, we are able to exercise a certain amount of control over. It’s a well-established practice to write a will, and one that, perhaps more importantly, is protected by law. The digital corpse, however, is uncontrollable. Even after our passage, big data companies roam free rampant with our data, and instead of us — the user, the consumer — having a will, legally-binding protection for our personal assets, the opposite is true with companies having fundamentally obscure and flawed Terms of Service to bind our digital soul to their digital farm forever.
This thought has troubled Philosophers and Computer Scientists for years, although nowadays this is something which the average Joe ought to think about. Naturally, this has led to hundreds — if not thousands — of suggested avenues for what should happen to our data when we die. So, what happens now, what are the options proposed, and what should happen to our data when we die?
Most social media platforms have now — eventually — introduced features which allow you to close the account of a deceased person. But the data that the account holds, is still open to question. As a result of government crackdowns on privacy and personal data, like the introduction of GDPR, you can now opt-out of your data being shared with advertisers, third-parties etc. But when you’re dead, you’re no longer able to do this. In our current system, said data can still be used, processed, sold, manufactured, erased, updated and almost everything else at the mercy of the company it originally belonged to. As an example, Google has publicly declared that they have no way of differentiating deceased accounts and accounts belonging to the living, so it is tried as just anyone’s normal Google data.
So, at this point, you might just want to close this article, as yourstill on the internet, but this isn’t an issue that has gone unnoticed, especially in recent years. This begs the question, what should happen to our data? So, what are some possible avenues?
Our data should be completely erased. Tell Me Who I Am style.
Some ethical Computer Scientists believe in completely erasing the data of the deceased. They believe that this would protect the memories of loved ones and prevent companies from profiting off the data of the dead. This solution, however, is not perfect. It’s met with heavy criticism from many of those with deceased family members with the concern that many of their favourite memories will be deleted. There is also criticism from what may be pessimists that the move would simply be too extreme.
Let’s introduce a ‘digital will’ — maybe.
Another option proposed by many Philosophers is the idea of a ‘digital will,’ in which people outline what they want to happen to their data when they die. Although on the surface, this seems like the solution, no more discussion needed. But upon closer inspection, it’s quite easy to see why this might not exactly be realistic. There is once again the issue that it may not be adopted rapidly enough, but the biggest problem is how personal and specific wills are. Even with the amount of revenue companies like Facebook generate annually, having to follow a very specific set of instructions for every single person’s data when they die, is simply unrealistic.
These options, being the main two proposed by Computer Scientists and Philosophers alike, both have their downsides. That’s why most experts in the field propose either a dull-downed version of one of them, or a mixture of both. The only clear thing in this massive corner of debate, is that the current system does not work. So, what do you think? What should happen to our data when we die?
