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===Contracts===
Contracts with service providers may be automatically terminated (by the terms of service) when a customer dies. This may mean that there is no right for heirs to access that data. This is compounded by the fact that many digital assets are only granted with non-transferable [[Rights issue|rights of use]]. For example, both Amazon and Apple only offer their digital products with single user rights. This means that digital products bought through such services can only be used by the purchaser, and cannot be passed on.<ref>Fottrell, Q. (2012, August 23). ''Who inherits your iTunes library?'' MarketWatch. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/who-inherits-your-itunes-library-2012-08-23</ref>
== Proposed solutions ==
Many solutions to the obstacles faced by digital inheritance have been proposed. One possible solution in the United States calls for a revision to the SCA allowing an exemption for digital estate beneficiaries. This would create less liability for online service providers and allow them to grant a beneficiary access to a deceased user's account as an authorized third party.<ref name=":22">Borden, M. (2014). Covering your digital assets: Why the stored communications act stands in the way of digital inheritance. ''Ohio State Law Journal, 75''(2)'','' 405-446. https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/ohslj75&i=421</ref> Another possible solution would be an entirely new federal law regulating the handling of digital assets after death, in which the designated administrator of an estate would receive full access to the deceased user's online accounts.<ref name=":13">Ferrante, R. E. (2013). The relationship between digital assets and their transference at death: It's complicated. ''Loyola Journal of Public Interest Law, 15''(1)'','' 37-62. https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/loyjpubil15&i=47</ref> As estate law has traditionally been relegated to states, however, a proposed federal law would be a significant departure from current practice.<ref name=":22" /> A third possible solution proposes that online service providers present users with a list of options upon sign-up regarding the disposition of the user's content in case of death. This option would allow users to choose whether or not they desire their content to be preserved and to whom they would grant access, accommodating their right to privacy.<ref>Sherry, K. (2012). What happens to our Facebook accounts when we die?: Probate versus policy and the fate of social-media assets postmortem. ''Pepperdine Law Review, 40''(1), 185-250. https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/pepplr40&i=193</ref>
==Issues==
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