YOUR DIGITAL INHERITANCE

DR. WENDY MONCUR, FRSA

SCHOOL OF COMPUTING, UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE

VISITING FELLOW, CENTRE FOR DEATH & SOCIETY, UNIVERSITY OF BATH

LIFE, DEATH & ASSETS

BEQUEATHING DIGITAL ASSETS

STEPS TO TAKE?

THE DAYS OF

OUR YEARS ARE

THREESCORE

YEARS

AND TEN (PSALM 90:10, KING JAMES

BIBLE)

http://budgetsmartgirl.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/final-graveyard-sandwich-tray.jpg

ARE ONLINE & OFFLINE DEATH

SYNCHRONOUS?

YOUR REAL-LIFE ASSETS

House

Car

Money

Furniture

Photos, videos, letters

Jewellery

Body

YOUR DIGITAL ASSETS

Photos

Blog posts

Emails

Social media accounts

Online contacts

Video

Music

Books

Memberships

Online business

Airmiles accounts

… and more…

WHERE ARE YOUR

DIGITAL ASSETS?

Laptop. iPod. Smart phone. Kindle. External hard drive. CD or DVD. Cloud backup service. Memory stick.

http://blog.redtray.co.uk/2012/07/06/why-training-in-the-cloud-has-become-the-must-have-it-accessory/

WHAT ARE THEY WORTH?

UNEXPECTEDLY USEFUL?

http://jlluesma.deviantart.com/art/Back-Tattoo-133720061

BEQUEATHING DIGITAL ASSETS

BEQUEATHING DIGITAL ASSETS

Can you? Yes, in Oklahoma (House bill 2800)

• social networking site

• micro blogging

• email & short message service websites

Barriers to bequeathal

Awareness of account’s existence

Identity – actual, pseudonymous, anonymous

Password

Ownership of digital asset

BARRIERS TO BEQUEATHAL

http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Inworld/bg-p/blog_inworld/date/2-5-2012

http://info.yahoo.com/legal/uk/yahoo/utos-173.html/

LANCE CORPORAL ELLSWORTH

OTHER INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS

Facebook: Memorialize or remove the account. Content can be downloaded if you have password. http://www.facebook.com

Twitter: remove account or assist family members in saving a backup of deceased’s public Tweets.

Gmail: May give access if formal evidence of death provided http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=14300

eBay: You cannot “transfer your eBay account (including feedback) and user ID to another party without our consent” http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/user-agreement.html

/

http://fallen-angel42.deviantart.com/art/Skeleton-in-your-closet-153072854

DO YOU HAVE SKELETONS IN YOUR CLOSET?

STEPS TO TAKE?

WHAT CAN YOU DO?: 1

Make a list of ALL your digital assets

- ID, Password, Website

Consider using a software tool to store passwords securely

• - E.g. LastPass, 1Password, Clipperz, RoboForm

Writing down or sharing your password may violate the Terms of Service agreement with your Internet Service provider.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?: 2

Appoint a Digital Executor

DIY method • Family member

• Friend

• Colleague

• Lawyer

Digital estate services

Posthumous email services

DIGITAL ESTATE SERVICES

Secure online service

• e.g. Legacy Locker, Entrustnet• May demand death certificate as proof of death

Stores your digital inventory

May also store:

• last wishes• instructions for funeral• posthumous email• instructions in case if brain death• eg – Legacy Organiser app

POSTHUMOUS EMAIL

Online service

• e.g http://www.deadmansswitch.net/

Death may be assumed if you fail to answer 3 emails from service provider….

Emails sent after you die

DO YOU NEED A DIGITAL ESTATE SERVICE, OR IS IT OVERKILL?

Security

Password updates

Number of heirs

Your age & health

How good you are with computers

Triggering action

SUMMARYYour digital assets are growing daily

Bequeathing them is not simple

You may wish to:

• Make an inventory of your digital assets• Choose:

• your digital executor• What assets you want to pass on, to whom.

Dr. Wendy Moncurhttp://www.computing.dundee.ac.uk/staff/wmoncur/

Digital Estate Services

Posthumous emails DIY Method

Want stringent 3rd party verification

Y Less stringent N

Death cert check Y N N

Automated digital executor

Y 1/2 N

Digital ‘heirs’ Complex Complex Simple

Passwords change often

Y N N

Open new accounts frequently

Y N N

Willing to pay for service

Maybe Maybe N