My Digital FootPrint

Image source: Associated Press Facebook  has changed its policies regarding profiles of users who have passed away. Feb 21 st 2014. A memorialized Facebook profile (when someone has died) was only visible to friends of the deceased, but now Facebook has altered its privacy settings on memorialized profiles so that all functions operate as they did when the user was active on the platform. For example, if a user kept his profile public to anyone on Facebook, that is the way his profile will be even after his passing. " This will allow people to see memorialized profiles in a manner consistent with the deceased person's expectations of privacy," members of Facebook's community team wrote in their blog. " We are respecting the choices a person made in life while giving their extended community of family and friends ongoing visibility to the same content they could always see ." The policy change involves "Look Back" videos, which wer...

Source : http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/plan-your-digital-afterlife-with.html Google has presented a new product that plans your digital afterlife – think Digital Will or Death Switch – you can instruct Google to delete your personal data and transfer your files to designated recipients, if you want them preserved for posterity. This is a class of service called managing your data after death that has been talked about a lot on My Digital Footprint. It is interesting that one of the largest players has done something about it and does highlight the importance of managing digital assets after death and is an attempt to solve a real (perceived) problem.  There is a host of companies ( Legacy Locker , Cirrus , Death Switch , Perpetu , AfterSteps ,   The Digital Beyond   DadApp , Social Safe to name a just a few) who are willing to charge you for this service and given that this is Google only data, you still need something for all your other ser...

http://www.deadsoci.al/ a network giving a virtual voice to the dearly departed enabling you to continue to be social after you die? Even after you die, your digital self (should/ can/ could) live on. “We create this digital footprint when we’re alive and it’s just a logical next step that some people will want to utilize something that makes it so that footprint doesn’t abruptly end,” says DeadSocial founder James Norris. “We spend so much time pruning our social profiles, it’s down to individuals to decide whether they want their accounts to die when they do.” What happens to our social profiles has become a point of contention. Some families have wrestled with networks to regain the deceased’s account, and others have been disturbingly active from the grave thanks to system errors. And anyone who knows someone deceased wonders what to do: Do you post on her Timeline? Do you send a DM to aid the grieving process? Or do you just stare at their page, frozen in time?

Source : http://www.lifeinsurancefinder.com.au/digital-mourning-online-grief-and-loss/ This is a link to a long post that deals with a bundle of tricky issues including trolls, planning for a digital death, online memorials, vandalism and dealing with death in an online world. Also check out  Grieving with Facebook  Conferences, Blogs, Websites, Books and Artists .   Facebook's Afterlife  published - " International media coverage ". 

Source : http://www.lifeinsurancefinder.com.au/digital-mourning-online-grief-and-loss/ This is a link to a long post that deals with a bundle of tricky issues including trolls, planning for a digital death, online memorials, vandalism and dealing with death in an online world. Also check out  Grieving with Facebook  Conferences, Blogs, Websites, Books and Artists .   Facebook's Afterlife  published - " International media coverage ". 

Source : http://www.lifeinsurancefinder.com.au/digital-mourning-online-grief-and-loss/ This is a link to a long post that deals with a bundle of tricky issues including trolls, planning for a digital death, online memorials, vandalism and dealing with death in an online world. Also check out  Grieving with Facebook  Conferences, Blogs, Websites, Books and Artists .   Facebook's Afterlife  published - " International media coverage ". 

  source : http://www.marketwatch.com/story/who-inherits-your-itunes-library-2012-08-23 Much has been written about the Bruce Willis "case" of his iTunes library but most digital content exists in a legal black hole..... So you want to give away your data ... You use Dad's credit cards to purchase itunes and books You have shared content from other You provide password access You have some original works You have purchased your own content.... What the terms say and what we are doing are very different but which trusted Brand is going to take us the consumer on? Tell you what lets ignore the issue and find a new format so you can buy it all again?

http://digitaldeathday.eventbrite.com/ Digital Death Day is a series of Unconferences which have been running twice annually since May 2010 in Europe and North America. We are very excited to be bringing this event once again to London! In the past this event has received high profile international press (such as http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8691238.stm and http://obit-mag.com/articles/life-after-death-in-digital-form ) Digital Death is the term used to describe the growing issue of what happens to your personas, ideas, feelings and accounts online after you die. This workshop is open to professionals and amateurs alike. Anyone who wants to learn, discuss, ask questions or even display a working product. Like death in the real world, Digital Death promises to be ever-present in our increasingly digital world. Despite the topics relative newness this is an issue which has already touched the lives of many people who understand its relevance, whether they themselves have ex...

http://digitaldeathday.eventbrite.com/ Digital Death Day is a series of Unconferences which have been running twice annually since May 2010 in Europe and North America. We are very excited to be bringing this event once again to London! In the past this event has received high profile international press (such as http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8691238.stm and http://obit-mag.com/articles/life-after-death-in-digital-form ) Digital Death is the term used to describe the growing issue of what happens to your personas, ideas, feelings and accounts online after you die. This workshop is open to professionals and amateurs alike. Anyone who wants to learn, discuss, ask questions or even display a working product. Like death in the real world, Digital Death promises to be ever-present in our increasingly digital world. Despite the topics relative newness this is an issue which has already touched the lives of many people who understand its relevance, whether they themselves have ex...

http://digitaldeathday.eventbrite.com/ Digital Death Day is a series of Unconferences which have been running twice annually since May 2010 in Europe and North America. We are very excited to be bringing this event once again to London! In the past this event has received high profile international press (such as http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8691238.stm and http://obit-mag.com/articles/life-after-death-in-digital-form ) Digital Death is the term used to describe the growing issue of what happens to your personas, ideas, feelings and accounts online after you die. This workshop is open to professionals and amateurs alike. Anyone who wants to learn, discuss, ask questions or even display a working product. Like death in the real world, Digital Death promises to be ever-present in our increasingly digital world. Despite the topics relative newness this is an issue which has already touched the lives of many people who understand its relevance, whether they themselves have ex...

http://digitaldeathday.eventbrite.com/ Digital Death Day is a series of Unconferences which have been running twice annually since May 2010 in Europe and North America. We are very excited to be bringing this event once again to London! In the past this event has received high profile international press (such as http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8691238.stm and http://obit-mag.com/articles/life-after-death-in-digital-form ) Digital Death is the term used to describe the growing issue of what happens to your personas, ideas, feelings and accounts online after you die. This workshop is open to professionals and amateurs alike. Anyone who wants to learn, discuss, ask questions or even display a working product. Like death in the real world, Digital Death promises to be ever-present in our increasingly digital world. Despite the topics relative newness this is an issue which has already touched the lives of many people who understand its relevance, whether they themselves have ex...

Source : http://ask.slashdot.org/story/12/07/07/1348205/ask-slashdot-how-do-you-securely-store-private-information-for-posterity The post asks the question "In the event of my untimely demise, my wife and family will need access to all of my private data (email, phone, laptop password, SSN, etc) and financial accounts and passwords (banks, 401(k), mortgage, insurance, etc). What's the best way to securely store all that data knowing the data is somewhat volatile (e.g. password changes) and also that someone else who is not technically savvy will need to access the most up to date version of it? Suggestions include a printed copy in a safe deposit box, an encrypted file, a secure server in the cloud, or maybe a commercial product." At the time of linking there are over 250 responses – amazing insight to a problem area.

showcasing the really cool insights you can find with easy-to-get data.  Alas I am now firmly in the Drugs and Alcohol range !!!! Source: http://nicolasrapp.com/?p=1171

Source: http://www.lifeinsurancefinder.com.au/infographics/expert-guide-to-protect-yourself-online-before-you-die/

So the infographic is from http://www.lifeinsurancefinder.com.au/  An Australian comparison site for insurance, therefore looking for hits and sales  :) They have a walk through webpage that talks to : Digital Privacy After Death - What Will Happen To Your Online Profile When You're Gone? Why You Should Get a Digital Will & A Digital Executor Personality Predictors + Artificial Intelligence = Digital Resurrections What Will Be Determined to be of Digital Importance & How Will it be Preserved? It is a good resource and well researched and I am delighted that they touched on issues for business owners, however, all Will’s become public at death so please don’t put your identity and passwords in any document.  Further the site does not address the thorny issue of “shared”  accounts. This could be the family email account that is in the name of the person who died. <br />Produced by Life Insurance Finder

Image http://trak.in/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/digitalwill.jpg Emma Gaudern, Partner at BHP Law is advising clients to leave their usernames and passwords in letters or a document that can be held with their Wills to make it easier for executors to deal with all their affairs when they die. Without passwords, relatives may never be able to access E-mail, internet banking and social networking for their loved ones which means things are left unfinished. Some clients have started to include these details in their Wills, however it is important to now provide instructions on how to deal with their digital footprint and their online life, the same way they deal with their offline life.  “It is important that information such as this is not inserted directly into the Will” says  Emma “People forget that after they die their Will becomes a public document and therefore any passwords given in the Will itself will become a matter of public record. What ...

Tony - no Apple fan boy, but deeply respectful of a master craftsman  

Adam is the Editor-in-Chief at Mashable http://www.mashable.com/author/adam-ostrow A topic that keeps coming back and here is another post on it - what happens to your digital footprint when you die ?

Image from Memorial.gov.hk Grieving families are being left out of pocket because people are forgetting to include passwords to their digital assets in their wills, according to a new study entitled  Dying in a Digital Age . Commissioned by Remember a Charity, the research found that 80 per cent of people own digital assets, but only nine per cent have thought about passing them on when they die. The study, which polled 2,000 people, found that: – over half of respondents (56 per cent) said they have a digital music collection, with 45 per cent valuing it at over £100 and 10 per cent at over £1,000. – A third of people own smartphone apps (34 per cent) with 20 per cent saying their collections are worth over £100. To help people plan how to pass on their digital assets, Remember a Charity has produced a checklist that can be downloaded from its  web site . ----- If you want to join in the debate on this topic there is http://digitaldeathday.com/ and is run by my NA fr...

  Not a new topic for this blog - previous posts are here http://blog.mydigitalfootprint.com/tag/death   A very good article appeared from the New York Times By  ROB WALKER Published: January 5, 2011 using the Photo Illustration by Penelope Umbrico above ‘‘Sunset Portraits, From 8,462,359 Sunset Pictures on Flickr, 12/21/10’’  I am not repeating it or doing a summary as it worth spending 15 minutes and reading it. There are also 83 comments which capture a hugh range of opinion Read All Comments (83) »     Things to adds from me....as so many good point have been made already   Payments - who is responsible for paying for services to keep them alive, you cannot pass on liability. 30% bother to sort wills - 70% don't - the Internet stats are likely to be worse given our attitude to backup Signing rights that are not aligned to terms and conditions is not a proposition that will work - what you want has to aligned to what...