Digital inheritance: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 01:17, 18 December 2021

Revision as of 01:18, 18 December 2021

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==Overview==

Digital inheritance is the passing down of [[digital assets]] to designated (or undesignated) [[Beneficiary|beneficiaries]] after a person’s death as part of the estate of the deceased. What was traditionally passed down as physical assets – analog materials such as letters, financial paperwork, photographs, or books – now exist for many people almost entirely in digital form as email, online banking, digital photos, or e-books.<ref>Anitei, A. (2017). Digital inheritance: Problems, cases, and solutions. ''International Conference Education and Creativity for a Knowledge-Based Society'', 32-39. https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/icedvtykbs2017&i=32</ref> In contrast with physical assets, digital assets are ephemeral and subject to constant threats of data corruption, format obsolescence, or licensing restrictions and proprietary control.

Digital inheritance is the process of handing over (personal) [[digital media]] in the form of [[digital assets]] and rights to (human) [[Beneficiary|beneficiaries]]. Digital media play an increasingly important role in life and digital inheritance is what is left behind when a person dies. The media in which a digital inheritance resides can be owned by or independent of the deceased. In the former category are personal computers, mobile phones and other devices, and in the latter category are the online corporations such as [[Google]], [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], [[Microsoft]] and [[Facebook]]. In between is a grey area of forums, blogs, personal websites and online banking. In contrast with physical assets, digital assets are ephemeral and subject to constant change. [[Intellectual property]] and privacy are additional factors. Digital inheritance may present a challenge for data heirs in its complexity and intricacy. With the average person having 25 online accounts,<ref>{{cite web|last=Rosen|first=Rebecca J.|title=The Government Would Like You to Write a 'Social Media Will'|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/05/the-government-would-like-you-to-write-a-social-media-will/256700/|work=The Atlantic|date=3 May 2012|accessdate=4 June 2013}}</ref> digital inheritance has become a complex issue.

Digital media can be physically owned, such as those stored on personal computers, hard drives, or optical discs, in which case the digital content exists on a format which can easily be bequeathed and passed down to heirs. A growing majority of digital content and interactions, however, are stored in an online environment and not owned by the individual but by the company providing the online service or product.<ref name=":0">Banta, N. M. (2014). Inherit the cloud: The role of private contracts in distributing or deleting digital assets at death. ''Fordham Law Review, 83''(2), 799-854. https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/flr83&i=817</ref> Examples of this include the online services provided by large corporations such as [[Google]], [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], [[Microsoft]] and [[Facebook]]. With the average person having 150 online accounts that require a password,<ref name=":4">Polk, M. J. (2019). Be right back: Black Mirror and the importance of digital estate planning. ''South Carolina Lawyer, 31''(1), 52-57. https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.barjournals/sclwy0031&i=54</ref> digital inheritance has become a complex legal and ethical issue. Legal conflicts surrounding digital inheritance center around questions of [[intellectual property]] rights, user privacy, and [[Property law|estate law]].

==Digital estate==