Dying Digitally (PT 2.)- MANAGEMENT OF DIGITAL ASSETS AFTER DEATH

by Anne Agi

There are several ways one could arrange for the management of his/her online assets after death.

Digital Wills
Just as one will prepare a will to dispose of worldly goods left behind: financial assets, personal effects, belongings likely to have sentimental value to others, one could also speak to a lawyer and leave instructions on the disposition of digital assets in a will and appoint a digital executor to manage them; there could also be further instructions on whether you want your page(s) closed or if you would like someone to answer your friends’ posts on your behalf, maybe for a while. Even if you have not made such arrangements, all of this will get sorted one way or another, maybe in line with what you would have wanted, and maybe not.

One case of a disappeared digital legacy involves Leslie Harpold, a Web pioneer who died unexpectedly in 2006. In early 2010, after Leslie Harpold’s death, some of her friends noticed that her sites ‘Harpold.com’ and ‘Smug.com’ ad quietly disappeared. These friends then lobbied Harpold’s family to let them preserve her work. This offer was declined. Had Leslie Harpold left directives about her online work, those directives would have been honored. Thus preparing a comprehensive inventory of one’s digital assets, with instructions on access as well as disposition of these items, is critical to ensuring a person’s assets are properly maintained after their death.

In the West, some people are writing out digital wills, spelling out how their virtual life should be handled post-mortem. In 2010, the founders of Entrustet, Jesse Davis and Nathan Lustig became the first two people in America to execute legal Wills that incorporate digital assets. Attorney Nathan Dosch, who helped the two execute their wills, said that incorporating the digital assets was easy and that he would feel comfortable doing the same thing for his current and new clients.(See Entrustet Founders Execute North America’s First Wills That Incorporate Digital Assets, http://­www.prweb.com/­releases/2010/05/­prweb4029134.html).

In India, a small number is taking an interest in their digital afterlife. Nishant Shah, director, research, at the Bangalore-based centre for internet and society, says that though the trend is nascent, people have started including their digital accounts in their wills. Sandeep Nerlekar, MD and CEO Terentia Consultants, an estate planning firm that handles both online (through a portal: www.onlinewill.co.in) and digital wills, says, “Now, even social networking sites are becoming part of one’s assets.

A clause in a digital will could read: ‘My executor shall have the power to access, handle, distribute and dispose of my digital assets’; or ‘I have prepared a memorandum with instructions concerning my digital assets and their access, handling, distribution and disposition. I direct my executor and beneficiaries to follow my instructions concerning my digital assets’.

Use of Online Services
Apart from using a will to dispose of digital assets, one could have a simple conversation with one’s heirs, using online services like ‘securesafe’ that let users store passwords to pass along when they are gone.

Another online service similar to ‘securesafe’ is www.worldwithoutme.c­om which has various tools like Vault, which lets you create assets of all your digital information like login credentials and other sensitive documents in one safe and secure place and pass it on directly to your loved ones without any middlemen or legal hassles. You can also choose who will receive what just like in a Will. You may use the Trigger tool to set up who will declare your demise, and when your digital inheritance will be set in motion.

‘Entrustet’ is another such online service. Founded by Jesse Davis and Nathan Lustig, Entrustet provides an automated system for storing passwords and instructions on all digital assets. Entrustet also offers an “account incinerator,” to obliterate content its users would prefer not to have linger on after them. .

Digital-mortality business, “emailfromdeath’ gives the idea of speaking from beyond the grave. It provides an automated service that allows its users to send personal messages or data to whomever, after they die.

Barrister Anne Agi writes from Abuja. You can reach her through email: anneagi@yahoo.com