By KELVIN CHAN, AP Business Reporter
LONDON (AP) — Most people have accrued quite a lot of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over the course of their lives. What happens to it after we die?
It's advisable to jot down a will that specifies who will inherit your physical assets after your death, but don't forget to maintain your digital estate too. Friends and family may treasure the files and posts you left behind, but they may very well be lost in digital purgatory after your death if you happen to don't take just a few easy steps.
Here's how you may prepare your digital life on your family members:
Apple
The iPhone manufacturer lets you nominate a “ Legacy Contact “Who can access your Apple account data after you die?” The company says it’s a secure approach to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up, you would like an Apple device with a reasonably recent operating system – iPhones and iPads require iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks require macOS Monterey 12.1.
For iPhones, go to Settings, tap Sign in & Security, then tap Old Contact. You can designate a number of individuals who don't need an Apple ID or device.
You must provide your contact with an access key. It generally is a digital version sent electronically, or you may print a replica or save as a screenshot or PDF.
Note that there are some some file types They is not going to have the option to be shared – including digital, rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple's password manager. Older contacts can only access a deceased user's account for 3 years before Apple deletes the account.
Google is taking a special approach Inactive account managerwhich lets you share your information with someone if it is set that you simply aren’t any longer using your account.
When setting it up, you'll need to choose how long you would like Google to attend (between three and 18 months) before considering your account inactive. Once this time is up, Google can notify as much as 10 people.
You can write a message informing you that you simply aren’t any longer using the account and optionally add a link to download your data. They can select what varieties of data they’ll access – including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.
There can be the choice to mechanically delete your account after three months of inactivity, requiring your contacts to download all data before this era expires.
Facebook and Instagram
Some social media platforms may preserve accounts of deceased people in order that family and friends can honor their memory.
If Facebook or Instagram users die, parent company Meta says it's possible commemorate the account when it receives a “valid request” from a friend or member of the family. Requests may be submitted through a Online form.
The social media company strongly encourages Facebook users so as to add a Legacy Contact to administer their memorial accounts. For example, older contacts can reply to latest friend requests and update pinned posts, but they’ll't read private messages or remove or change previous posts. You can only select one person, who must even have a Facebook account.
You may also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user's account if you happen to are an in depth member of the family or an executor. You might want to submit documents akin to a death certificate.
TikTok
The video-sharing platform says that after a user dies, a request to recollect the account may be made via the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and Profile, then Manage Account, where you may report a deceased user.
Once an account has been saved, it is going to be marked “Saving.” No one can log in to the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post latest content or send messages.
X
It will not be possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk's social media page. But relations or a licensed person may also submit an application Inquiry to deactivate a deceased user's account.
Passwords
In addition to the key online services, you likely have dozens, if not tons of, of other digital accounts that your survivors may have access to. You could simply write your whole credentials in a notebook and keep it in a protected place. But making a physical copy also comes with its own vulnerabilities. What if you happen to lose track? What if someone finds it?
Instead, consider a Password manager which has an emergency access function. Password managers are digital vaults through which you may store all of your access data. Some, like Guardian,Bitwarden And North Passallow users to designate a number of trusted contacts who can access their keys within the event of an emergency, akin to death.
But there are just a few catches: Those contacts must also use the identical password manager, and you could have to pay for the service.
Originally published:
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