In our survey, just 18% had recorded how to access their accounts for someone to follow, and only 3% included provisions in their Will. While there are set rules for how online banking services are handled after death, for every other aspect of our digital lives more planning is required to ensure loved ones can access treasured digital memories.
Below we explain more about the sorts of digital assets you need to consider, and how to create your own digital legacy plan.
Weighing up your digital assets
With so much of our lives lived ‘digitally’ and online, it can be daunting to plan a digital legacy, but not everything needs passing on. The most important step is to weigh things up carefully to decide which platforms to prioritise, so you can preserve what matters the most.
Email:Photos:Social media:Subscription services: Digital media:How different platforms allow access to data after death
Some 6% in our survey had to access a loved one’s digital assets in the last three years, with the most common being email (74%), followed by photos (31%) and Facebook (24%). Unfortunately, many cited issues with account access, transferring files and dealing with unhelpful customer services.
There's no overarching right to access someone’s data after death – data protection rights cease when an individual dies and so digital assets don’t get passed on automatically. Instead, a potentially complex and often unhelpful landscape of company policies needs to be navigated to understand what you can and can’t access or pass on.
AppleGoogle FacebookAmazonMicrosoft InstagramMicrosoft (including Hotmail, OneDrive, and LinkedIn) requires a court order to release account information, and even then it does not guarantee giving access, and on Instagram you’ll need both the birth and death certificate for the deceased person, and proof that you are their lawful representative.
Can I include digital assets in my Will?
If provisions are put in place, some digital files and assets, including photos and original works, along with certain digital assets such as vouchers and loyalty card points can form part of your estate upon death and pass to your beneficiaries. Others, such as e-books, music files and social media accounts cannot typically be passed on.
read the policy for each digital asset and service you use to make sure you know where you stand.Find out how a letter of wishes works and get advice on planning your digital legacy with .Three ways to safeguard your digital legacy
Creating a digital legacy plan is primarily about recording in a secure way instructions for accessing digital assets that you want to pass on to a trusted person or persons. Try to combine at least two of these methods, ideally all three if you can.
Use cloud storage
Most cloud storage services, such as OneDrive, enable you to create a shared document and then securely share this with other people. You can include instructions here, and keep them constantly updated. Also consider including smartphone PIN codes just in case. Password managers, such as LastPass and Dashlane, are also useful for securely sharing passwords with others. Many also enable you to share notes containing information and guidance on logging into your accounts. Lastpass even offers a dedicated ‘digital contingency’ service.
Local storage
If data isn’t stored in two places, it’s not reliably stored. It’s easy to back up important photos and other files, and include your digital legacy plan when you have one, on a USB stick or physical hard drive, and you could drop off a duplicate of this with a loved one straight away. Most can be password protected, so you can share how to access it in your cloud service note, or in a letter of wishes.
Establish a letter of wishes
*based on a survey of 14,631 Which? members conducted in May 2024.source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/what-happens-to-your-data-when-you-die-heres-how-to-prepare-adFn17q4wymO