How to manage the digital legacy left behind after death

The only certainties in life are death and taxes. And while we are encouraged to plan for the former, it is often in practical terms: make a will, nominate an executor, decide how you want your physical belongings to be dealt with after you die.

When we bought our family home, the solicitor handling the process suggested we make a will, and fill out a financial assets form that would help gather our assets in the event that either of us passed away, smoothing the process for those left behind.

But what about your digital life? Have you a plan in place to deal with the data you have accumulated over your lifetime? And if not, why not?

Now is a good time to get into the habit of deleting data you no longer need

There are good reasons to get your digital affairs in order. While there may be some physical documents and photos in your home, many of them are now digital, from your bank statements to your insurance policies. If you’ve dabbled in cryptocurrency, you’ll need to leave the appropriate access keys for digital wallets, or risk your investment being lost forever. Subscriptions can keep mounting up after your death, unless your family knows what they are and how to cancel them.

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If your idea of digital estate planning consists solely of “delete my web history”, it’s time to reconsider. We do everything online these days, from shopping to socialising. The average person has around 100 passwords, according to data from Nord VPN, which adds up to a lot of accounts. If you are no longer around, then what happens to that data? And with all the security features that are supposed to protect out accounts from intruders, it means it is less likely that our loved ones will be able to access these accounts easily.

If you are serious about managing your digital legacy, there are several steps you can take now. First, make a list of all your important digital accounts and subscriptions for your chosen executor, and leave it in a safe place for them to access.

Secondly, decide what you want done with the content – save the photos? Bin the documents? – and record your wishes, along with who will take responsibility for carrying them out.

Now is also a good time to get into the habit of deleting data you no longer need, especially if it is sensitive data you would rather no one saw.

There are tools to help. The Digital Legacy Association, a UK-based organisation that offers guidance and advice on how to manage your digital assets in the event of your death.

A social media will, although not legally binding, can indicate your wishes, and gives your nominated “executors” an idea of what accounts you hold and what you would like done with them. As with a traditional will though, it’s a good idea to discuss this process with your chosen digital executor before landing them with the responsibility of sifting through your accounts.

Some of the more popular accounts have put certain procedures in place to help you manage your digital legacy.

Apple

If you have been using an Apple device for any length of time, you have likely built up a serious trove of information, from email and documents to iTunes purchases and apps. You may be the manager for a family account too, controlling the accounts for four other people.

Legacy contacts will be able to take over your Apple account after your death, getting access to everything from your cloud data and photos to videos and documents. There are some things that are excluded. You can’t access subscriptions, payments information, licensed media or iCloud keychain data. The latter means no stored passwords, which makes a good argument for using a third-party password manager such as NordPass, which allows you to set an emergency access contact for just this kind of situations.

Apple will allow you to appoint up to five contacts to pass on your digital life. It’s a simple process to nominate them. On your iPhone or iPad, go to settings, select your Apple ID, and password and security. Scroll down to legacy contact and select your nominees.

On Mac, go to Apple menu, system preferences, and click on your Apple ID. Legacy contact is under password and security.

Accessing the data after your death isn’t quite as seamless. You’ll need a copy of the access key, which should be printed out and included with your other estate planning documents, and the death certificate, which Apple will verify before granting access.

Once it has approved the application, legacy contacts have access to the data for three years, and then your account will be permanently deleted.

Google

There are a couple of ways to hand over your Google account to your digital next of kin. The easiest way is to set a contact on your Google account who will be notified if your account becomes inactive for a set period of time. You choose the contact, and you also set the time limit, in a range of three to 18 months. Crucially, you also get to decide what data is shared with your contact, whether it is your photos, Google Drive, Google Pay information, your activity or your Home app. It's not a case of all or nothing.

Should your account become inactive, Google will then carry out your instructions, whether it is to pass on your account information or delete it all.

To set up your digital legacy, sign in to your Google account. Go to data and privacy (https://myaccount.google.com/data-and-privacy) and select “Make a plan for your digital legacy”.

Choose between three, six, 12 and 18 months; if you don’t use your account for that time, it will trigger the plan.

That doesn’t happen without any warning though; Google also asks you to add a mobile number, which Google use to contact up to a month before your account is classed as inactive and the plan is triggered. It will also contact you via email, just in case.

There is a ticking clock to keep in mind though. Once your account has been deemed inactive, its data will be accessible for three months before Google deletes it.

You can also leave your login details for your chosen contact so they can access your account, but bear in mind if you have two-factor authentication enabled on your account, they will need access to that device too. That method also gives you less control over the type of data you are sharing with your executors than designating a nominated contact for your account – it’s all or nothing.

Facebook

Facebook’s policy is to memorialise the account of a person who has died, preserving it as a place for friends and families to share memories of the deceased. It also secures the account, stopping any unauthorised users from gaining access to it.

What Facebook won't do is hand over the login details for an account, even to someone who is next of kin. So if you want them to have access to all the information in your account, you will need to remember to leave the login details somewhere safe. And if you have two-factor authentication turned on, you'll need to make sure they can access the authentication method too.

Your account can be deleted at the request of an immediate family member, once their identity has been verified.

Instagram

As you would imagine, Instagram's policies mirror those of Facebook, turning your Instagram account into a digital memorial. Proof of death is needed before Meta will turn an account into a memorial, such as a link to an obituary or news article.

Twitter

Twitter doesn’t have any specific procedures for the accounts of deceased users; instead, it deactivates accounts at the request of family members.

It will not provide access to an account in the event of a user’s death, but will work with someone acting on behalf of the estate or a verified immediate family member. If you want your account removed after your death, your executor can do so once they have fulfilled Twitter’s verification procedures, including a copy of their ID and the account holder’s death certificate.

Microsoft

You don’t have to let Microsoft know that someone has died, and the company won’t share any information with next of kin regardless. Leaving the account credentials for your next of kin will allow them to log in and shut down the account.

Otherwise, the Microsoft account will be shut down once it has been inactive for two years.

Outlook.com and OneDrive accounts are frozen after a year of inactivity and messages and files stored on OneDrive will be deleted soon after.