What happens to your digital data when you die

Image from Memorial.gov.hk

Grieving families are being left out of pocket because people are forgetting to include passwords to their digital assets in their wills, according to a new study entitled Dying in a Digital Age. Commissioned by Remember a Charity, the research found that 80 per cent of people own digital assets, but only nine per cent have thought about passing them on when they die.

The study, which polled 2,000 people, found that:

– over half of respondents (56 per cent) said they have a digital music collection, with 45 per cent valuing it at over £100 and 10 per cent at over £1,000.

– A third of people own smartphone apps (34 per cent) with 20 per cent saying their collections are worth over £100.

To help people plan how to pass on their digital assets, Remember a Charity has produced a checklist that can be downloaded from its web site.

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If you want to join in the debate on this topic there is http://digitaldeathday.com/ and is run by my NA friend Kaliya you can follow her @identitywoman

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In Hong Kong, your online presence can begin when your earthly presence ends via a new website that enables the bereaved to set up commemorative online profiles of their departed loved ones. In a culture that takes respect for the dead very seriously, many worry about the site displacing traditional forms of mourning. But Hong Kong insists the site "is not meant to replace traditional practices of paying tribute to the deceased”—just to offer access to dead loved ones “anytime and anywhere online, in a warm, personalized yet solemn manner.”