Explained: How to keep someone’s digital identity ‘secure’ after they pass away – Times of India
It is a question that may have perhaps crossed your mind — what happens to a person’s digital presence when they pass away? What about social media posts? Or the photos saved in iCloud or Google Photos? While one can’t write a digital will, there are ways and means to ensure that a person’s digital identity is wiped away nice and clean.
For Google accounts and services
Google has a feature called Inactive Account Manager through which one can assign a trusted contact to access their account. Do keep in mind that a trusted contact doesn’t get access until the said account in question is inactive for a certain period of time. Users can choose a time period — 3, 6 or 12 months — of inactivity. All the Google accounts and services can then be made inactive.
For Facebook, Instagram
Facebook has a legacy contact concept, where a person can be chosen to look after the main profile after a person has passed away. The legacy contact then has the power to make decisions about a user profile on Facebook accounts. The legacy contact then request for the removal of account or write a single pinned post informing about why the account is inactive.
For Apple services
Like Facebook, Apple too has a legacy contact feature. Adding a Legacy Contact gives access to photos, messages, notes, files, apps you’ve downloaded, device backups, and more. However, passwords and payment information cannot be accessed. On an iPhone, one can search for the Legacy Contact feature in Settings under Password and Security option.
For LinkedIn
On LinkedIn, any connected contact can get in touch with LinkedIn to remove a deceased person’s account. However, they will have to provide the deceased member’s full name, URL to their LinkedIn profile, deceased member’s email address, date of member’s passing and a copy of the death certificate.
Other services
There are other websites like After Note and Secure Safe that allow users to create digital wills as well. For instance, After Note allows users to create a digital will where they can store all their login details of various online accounts. Users have the option to appoint three trustees who can then access the data of the deceased person. Similarly, Secure Safe allows users to store passwords of up to 50 accounts which can then be accessed by the person that was chosen to access the information.
For Google accounts and services
Google has a feature called Inactive Account Manager through which one can assign a trusted contact to access their account. Do keep in mind that a trusted contact doesn’t get access until the said account in question is inactive for a certain period of time. Users can choose a time period — 3, 6 or 12 months — of inactivity. All the Google accounts and services can then be made inactive.
For Facebook, Instagram
Facebook has a legacy contact concept, where a person can be chosen to look after the main profile after a person has passed away. The legacy contact then has the power to make decisions about a user profile on Facebook accounts. The legacy contact then request for the removal of account or write a single pinned post informing about why the account is inactive.
For Apple services
Like Facebook, Apple too has a legacy contact feature. Adding a Legacy Contact gives access to photos, messages, notes, files, apps you’ve downloaded, device backups, and more. However, passwords and payment information cannot be accessed. On an iPhone, one can search for the Legacy Contact feature in Settings under Password and Security option.
For LinkedIn
On LinkedIn, any connected contact can get in touch with LinkedIn to remove a deceased person’s account. However, they will have to provide the deceased member’s full name, URL to their LinkedIn profile, deceased member’s email address, date of member’s passing and a copy of the death certificate.
Other services
There are other websites like After Note and Secure Safe that allow users to create digital wills as well. For instance, After Note allows users to create a digital will where they can store all their login details of various online accounts. Users have the option to appoint three trustees who can then access the data of the deceased person. Similarly, Secure Safe allows users to store passwords of up to 50 accounts which can then be accessed by the person that was chosen to access the information.
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