A Digital Legacy?

Back in March of 2011, my dear brother-in-law, Barry Faye, passed away.  It was a sad event.  We conducted a beautiful funeral service and talked about him for several weeks following.

Six months later, I received a reminder of his birthday on Facebook.  Going to his Facebook page, I saw that several people who apparently had not received notification of his death, posted birthday wishes.   My wife wrote a message on his page to inform "friends" that Barry had passed away.

Since that time, I periodically get requests to play "Words with Friends" with Barry.

Unfortunately, we don't know Barry's passwords so that we can't access his account to stop it.

The question about what happens to our online identity after we die is the subject of a very informative article in The Wall Street Journal, "Life and Death Online: Who Controls a Digital Legacy" 

According to the article, "...U.S. and Canadian laws, which are similar for the most part, don't treat digital assets like physical ones that can be distributed according to wills. In 1986, Congress passed a law forbidding consumer electronic-communications companies from disclosing content without its owner's consent or a government order like a police investigation. Although that law predates the rise of the commercial Internet, courts and companies have largely interpreted it to mean that the families can't force companies to let them access the deceased's data or their accounts."

The article points out "Today, some people share passwords so others can access their accounts after death, or write clauses into their wills, though the legality of either is unclear. 

To find documentation and best practices from on-line account providers on how to close, transfer or change accounts of deceased users, go to Deceased Account.com.


This is definitely an issue that needs to be addressed.  In the meanwhile, I have shared my passwords with my loved ones.

By the way, I usually just agree to "terms and services."  Check out this South Park which pokes fun at that practice.