Digital footprint: managing your online identity after death
When someone dies, there are a lot of things that need to be sorted out. Things like checking if someone has a will or a funeral plan, as well as contacting banks, insurance companies and mortgage providers to notify them of the person’s death. But what happens to our online identity when we are no longer here?
What happens to your social media after you die?
Social media has become the go-to place to celebrate life’s milestones. Announcing everything from pregnancies and engagements to job offers on social media has become the norm. Our social media accounts are filled with precious memories. But what happens to them once we die?
You might assume it will be left to your next kin. But these accounts don’t ‘belong’ to you. The terms and conditions you agreed to when first setting up the account will state this. Once a person has died, there are two options for the account: memorialisation or deletion.
To prevent your account from being deleted, sites like Facebook offer the chance to choose a legacy contact. Your chosen legacy contact will manage the memorialised page, which will allow them to accept friend requests, and change profile and cover photos. To do this you’ll need to:
- click on the Settings & Privacy section in the top right of your screen
- then click on Access & Control
- select memorialisation settings
- select Choose Legacy Contact and follow the on-screen instructions
If you want to memorialise an account on Instagram, you’ll need to provide proof of death, such as a death certificate or obituary. There is no option for memorialisation on X. Instead, they work with the person authorised to act on the behalf of the person’s estate or a verified immediate family member to deactivate the account. Similarly, TikTok doesn’t offer a memorialisation option either, and additional documentation may be requested to delete an account.
Because there is no option to choose a legacy contact on Instagram, X or TikTok, each social media platform will have to be contacted directly for account memorialisation or deletion.
In the same way people plan ahead for what will happen to their physical possessions once they die, you can do the same to manage your digital legacy. Below are some useful tips of how you can plan for your digital afterlife, now.
Make a list of digital assets
Technology plays an increasingly vital role in most people’s lives, but very few people think about including their digital assets when writing a will. Research carried out by Canada Life shows that while 95% of UK adults have digital assets, with 49% having a will, only 12% of those wills include digital assets.
The best place to start is by making a list of your digital assets. To do this, you need to think beyond social media accounts. Start by listing physical digital assets, like your phone and laptop, and then think about soft assets, like photos, apps you’ve downloaded and services you’ve subscribed to. All of these things contribute to shaping your online identity.
Once you have done this, it’s time to specify what you would like to happen to your digital assets once you die. For example, gifting your physical digital assets to someone, making it clear if you would like accounts to be memorialised or deleted, and choosing someone you trust to manage your digital assets when you die.
If you don’t do this, whoever is chosen as executor will be responsible for acting in your best interests. During an already difficult time for your family and friends, making it clear what you’d like to happen will help avoid added stress.
You might think that your digital assets have little value beyond the money your devices could be sold for. But this isn’t true. From a business perspective, your data is incredibly valuable. From a sentimental perspective, the memories you’ve logged online in the form of photos, videos and posts are priceless to your loved ones.
Put everything in one place
Your favourite memories and personal documents used to be physical items, which made them, in theory at least, easily accessible to family and friends. But even when everything is in physical format, piecing together a loved one’s life after they died is no easy task. People rarely leave things neatly organised in one place, like a filing cabinet, for example. This means loved ones are left to search through boxes of papers in lofts and basements with no promise they’ll find what they’re looking for.
Thankfully, digitisation means this may no longer the case, but it does present a new problem. Digital technology has changed what we leave behind, giving our family and friends another task to deal with. Technology has not only changed the way we grieve and how our loved ones will be remembered, but it’s also added another step onto the list of jobs we must tackle during bereavement.
Photo albums and document folders have been replaced by device camera rolls, social media accounts and laptop hard drives. This makes the task of tracking everything down once someone has died difficult to say the least.
To make this task easier for your loved ones, it helps to be organised. Let it be known to the people you trust where documents and photos are stored, so they don’t have to search for them when the time comes.
Write down and share usernames, passwords and access codes
The safest way to store and protect your passwords is by writing them down on a sheet of paper and storing them somewhere safe in your home. This significantly reduces the risk of a cybercriminal being able to access them and reduces the risk of you losing your passwords if you were to carry them with you at all times.
Having your login information for important websites and apps noted down somewhere makes the job of accessing accounts after you’ve died that much easier for your loved ones.
Give someone you trust access to online accounts and profiles
The last step you need to take in planning for your digital afterlife is making it clear who you want to oversee your digital assets once you die. Once you have someone in mind, consider sitting them down to explain your decision so it doesn’t come as a shock to them.
And remember, if the person’s name and your instructions are clearly stated in your will, it is likely there will be fewer arguments and less stress involved for your loved ones after you die.
If you’d like to take control of your digital assets, start by making a will with Co-op Legal Services.
