Your digital legacy in Covid19 times

Taking the opportunity of self isolation to organise your digital assets

Sue MartinJune 2020

Your digital legacy

Today is a cut down version of a talk I have been giving and updating over a number of years.

Please Note: I am not a lawyer

This has become a very technical area of law with lots of uncertainty

It is best managed by legal advice.Talk to an accredited specialist in Elder Law.

Ring the Law Society.

Your digital legacy

Access to the Internet has changed many aspects of our lives. It has also changed the ways in which we need to prepare for death.

Your digital legacyDigital assets

What are digital assets?

Your digital legacyDigital assets include• digital information that is available about a person after death• any website or blog listings about the person• social media profiles• photos• videos• gaming profiles

• Do you send emails?• Do you take photos with your phone or digital

camera?• Have you written a family history?• Do you use online banking?• Do you subscribe to newsletters?• Do you use direct debit for various services?

Digital Assets

Yes?

Well, you have digital assets!

Have you talked about death and dying?Are your affairs organised? • will• power of attorney• enduring power of attorney• enduring guardianship• advanced care directive?

Your digital assetsJust checking!!!• You have an up-to-date will prepared by a solicitor familiar with

Elder Law. • You have gathered up the key documents and made a list of

them so they can be easily located.

• How long since you reviewed them?

• It is recommended that essential documents should be reviewed at least every five years.

• But!• Does anyone know about your digital assets

and your plans for them?

Digital assetsmay include:• digitised documents• digital photos• videos • music collections• blogs

Digital assetsmay include:• email accounts (more than one email address)• software licences• eBooks• cloud storage accounts.

Digital assetsFinancial assets such as:

• online bank accounts• online purchasing accounts (PayPal)• cryptocurrency.

Digital assetsBusiness assets such as:

• online store accounts (Ebay, David Jones, Amazon, Spotify)

• customer orders, addresses and payment information.

Digital assetsmay include:

• social network accounts (Facebook)• online dating accounts (RSVP)• file sharing accounts (Dropbox)• computer access accounts (Microsoft, Apple, Google).

Digital assetsmay include:

• accommodation booking accounts (Booking.com, Stayz)

• loyalty program benefits such as frequent flyer points• sports gambling accounts• online gaming accounts.

Digital assetsmay be stored on devices such as:

• laptop• tablet/IPad• smart phone• digital camera• e-reader e.g. Kindle.

Your digital assetsHow do you use the Internet?• email communication (more than one address?)• file storage of images, documents, videos (OneDrive,

iCloud, Google Photos)• Face to face communication (Skype, FaceTime, Zoom)• file sharing (Google Docs, DropBox, iCloud)• Reading eBooks.

Your digital assetsHow do you use the Internet?• booking accommodation • banking• buying/selling items• paying bills• watching movies/television.

Your digital assetsHow do you use the Internet?• social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)• making friends (online dating)• researching information (Google, Bing)• listening to podcasts• playing games?

Your digital assetsYou have online accounts, if you:• receive your gas/electricity/ water, phone bills via email • buy items through eBay, • sell through Gumtree, • pay for items with PayPal.

Your digital assetsYou have online accounts, if you:• communicate via Skype/FaceTime • communicate with friends/family via Facebook• buy books through Amazon/BookDepository• invest in bitcoin/crypto-currency.

Your digital assetsPasswordsIf you have accounts, you have passwords.

Do you know your passwords? Autosaving passwords has deskilled us all!It is a bad idea to always use the same password!

Your digital assetsPasswords

A suggestionA root word or phrase using symbols etc. plus a unique suffix.

Your digital assetsPasswordsFor exampleBarrenjoeyHouseB@rrenj0eyH0u$eGM for GmailB@rrenj0eyH0u$eSK for Skype

Your digital assetsPasswordsWhere do you store a record of your passwords?• a note book• an alphabetic book• table in a word processing document• table in a spreadsheet• Password Manager software?

Your digital assetsPasswordsWho knows how to access your passwords if necessary?

Your digital assetsDecisionsWhat do you want to happen to your:• documents• photos• music• videos• accounts?

Your digital assetsDecisionsDo you want them to be:• transferred to someone else• deleted/cancelled?

Your digital assetsCancelling accounts such as:• Microsoft• Apple• Google• Facebook• Hotmail• Skype

Your digital assetsYour Microsoft account allows you access to: • OneDrive• Skype• App store• Cloud backup

Your digital assetsCancelling a Microsoft/ Hotmail/Outlook account involves contacting the Windows Live Custodian of Records msrecord@microsoft.com requesting permission to:• access content or emails from a deceased or

incapacitated person’s account• request the closure of the account.

Your digital assetsYour Apple ID is needed for: • Apple Online Store• Apple Music• iPhotos• FaceTime• iCloud• iMessage• iTunes

When Apple ID is deleted:• photos, videos, documents, and other content stored in

iCloud are permanently deleted• no messages will be received via iMessage, FaceTime, or

iCloud Mail• paid iCloud storage plans, if any, will be cancelled.

To close an Apple ID AccountRequired information• Apple ID• Email address• password• Death certificate

Your digital assetsA Google (Gmail) account is needed for access to:• Google Drive• Google Photos• Google Docs• Google YouTube

Your digital assetsYou can decide:• when Google should consider your account to be

inactive• what should be done with your data afterwards. • date can be shared with someone you trust or can be

deleted by Google.

Digital assetsFacebookCriminals are now targeting the Facebook accounts of dead people.They impersonate the dead person and trick family and friends into clicking on malicious links.

Digital assetsFacebookYou can select a Legacy Contact to manage your Facebook account.

Digital assetsFacebookYou can have your account permanently deleted or deactivated

Digital assetsFacebookThere is a form to request the removal of a medically incapacitated or deceased person's accountSpecial Request for Medically Incapacitated or Deceased Person's Account

Your digital assets

What do you want to happen to your device/s? • recycled• given to a specific person (with or without data)• donated with data removed?

Your digital assetsHave you made sure someone, other than you, knows how to access your digitally stored content and your online accounts?• your partner• children• friend• executor?

Your digital assetsOrganising your affairs now includes:• appointing a digital executor• providing your digital executor with information on:

• how to access relevant passwords and secret questions

• your digital assets• what is to be done with your data and devices.