What’s a digital legacy and why do I need to sort it out?
Your digital legacy means everything you leave behind online after you die. So think your email address, Insta, Snapchat, Facebook, your YouTube channel, whatever’s in your iCloud or photo stream, apps on your phone or tablet and online banking.
Why is it important to think about sorting it out? It’s becoming more obvious that we should take our online lives as seriously as our possessions when we’re thinking about what we leave behind. Data protection laws means that it’s difficult for anyone to access your accounts after you die. They’re intended to protect your privacy, which is a good thing. But it can also cause families distress when they can’t log in to your devices, or get hold of your photos or videos. By making a plan, or talking it through with your family, you can all agree on what’s important and you know that your wishes will be respected.
Take a look at our checklist to help you decide what to do:
You might simply want to delete your accounts, and you can do this yourself by managing it in the settings. Or you can leave it to other people, as most social media will allow people to request the deletion of someone’s profile or account. Before you do this, think about whether there’s any data on there – like photos or videos – that you might want to keep for family and friends.
If you are, you could give someone you trust your login details of all your social media accounts, pin code for your phone and tablet, or password for your computer. This means they can decide what to do with your data and manage it, or you could ask them to follow your instructions depending on what your wishes are.
You might want to talk to friends and family about memorialising your Facebook or Instagram account. This will mean that people you’re connected with can still see your photos and stuff you’ve posted. Facebook allows you to choose a legacy contact to manage your account after you die. They’ll be able to do things like pin a post on your timeline, respond to new friend requests and update your profile picture but they won’t post as you or see your messages.
If you have a YouTube channel or blog, would you like to give someone access to them so that they can continue posting on your behalf? Or perhaps just so they have the ability to download your posts?
Online bank accounts should be able to be managed in branch but it could be worth thinking about things like PayPal, eBay or online subscriptions like Amazon to make sure the balances are settled and there’s nothing outstanding to pay, or withdraw.
Don’t want your mum stumbling across your Tinder profile? Or your dad looking at the photos from that night out? Totally understandable. Give yourself a bit of time to sort out the bits and bobs you’d like to stay private, whether that’s deleting or passing to a good friend for safekeeping.
Find more help
The Digital Legacy Association has a social media will template and various guides for managing your devices, online accounts, website and blogs.
DeadSocial has loads of resources for legacy planning and tech tutorials.
