Digital Asset Inheritance
In my last post, Social Media Afterlife, I talked about what can happen to your social media accounts after you’re gone. In the U.S., the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act allows an executor access to someone’s digital assets. But your social media accounts are not the only kind of digital asset. There is also the personal user account, something that allows you to access multiple services from one particular company. For example, Google, Microsoft, and Apple.
Apple
Apple allows you to set up a Legacy Contact for your account. This person will be able to recover your photos and videos, along with many other files. However, they won’t be able to see any subscriptions, ebooks, music, or movies that you purchased. They won’t be able to access your Keychain, either.
The Legacy Contact needs to be at least 13 years old, but they don’t need to have an Apple ID of their own. In order to access your account, they will need a copy of your death certificate and the access key that they were given.
To add someone as your Legacy Contact, you will need to be on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac computer. Go to Settings, select “Apple ID” or “Sign-In & Security,” then select “Legacy Contact.” For more detailed instructions, see the Apple Support website.
Microsoft
If your Microsoft account has no activity for two years, it will be deleted automatically. Unlike Apple, Microsoft does not provide the option of appointing a legacy contact. Your best option is to provide your login information, then your heir or executor can access your account. This way, they will be able to recover any files left behind and cancel any remaining subscriptions.
Google provides you with a feature called Inactive Account Manager. Not only does it allow you to share some of your account information with someone you choose, it can also notify that person when your account is inactive for a certain amount of time.
To turn on this option, log into myaccount.google.com/inactive. You can choose what parts of your account to share with others. Google will only send a notification when your account is inactive for a certain period of time, but you must specify how long. Then, your trusted contact will receive an email from Google. The email will contain a list of everything in your account that you have given them access to and a personal note that you can write yourself.
As I’ve said before, no one likes to think about death or dying. But if you plan ahead, you can save your loved ones some grief and give them memories to cherish. A digital asset is as important as your other assets.
