What others say: Where does your data go when you die?

  • Wednesday, July 23, 2014 4:02pm
  • Opinion

Dying in the digital age means leaving two worlds instead of one.

One is the physical world, where your body resides. The other is the online world, where your virtual self exists. When you die, your loved ones become responsible for both — yet they have very few tools to take proper care of the online “you.”

This is a growing problem nationally and in Oregon, as older citizens become more Internet-savvy and people of all ages conduct more of their personal and financial business online. Oregon lawmakers should be prepared to tackle this issue in 2015, with help from privacy advocates and estate attorneys: Our laws are ill-equipped to deal with the tricky reality of gaining access to others’ Facebook accounts, family photos stored in the cloud, and even password-protected phones.

Last week, a leading group of lawyers recommended that states adopt several proposals to make it easier for surviving family members and executors of estates to gain access to your digital assets when you die. This group, known as the Uniform Law Commission, says electronic documents should be treated much like paper documents in a file cabinet. In most cases, a surviving loved one or executor should get easy access without having to petition a judge or jump through months of hoops.

Same goes for photos and files that might be stored online: Unless the person specified otherwise in a will, trust or user opt-in agreement, that person’s digital assets should be as accessible as their physical property, the group says.

“Technology is creating these assets on a daily basis, and the law is woefully behind,” said former state lawmaker Lane Shetterly, an Oregon attorney who served on the workgroup that hammered out the recommendations. The group’s intent is to establish good public policy around better access, he explained, while also carving out ways for people to protect their online privacy, even in death.

“This is a balancing act,” Shetterly told The Oregonian editorial board on Tuesday.

Digital privacy is emerging as a hot topic for the 2015 legislative session, and dealing with the digital assets of a deceased person is likely to be part of the mix. Oregon lawmakers may be surprised to discover that many of the same Internet companies that seem awfully casual about users’ privacy are often the most reluctant to share account information with surviving loved ones, both because of company policies and competing federal laws.

Oregonians may find themselves debating surreal questions such as: How can we keep a virtual self out of legal purgatory? How should we define a good digital death?

This would have sounded like gibberish five years ago. Now, it’s a natural extension of living with our heads — and a good part of our souls — in the digital cloud.

— The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon,

July 22

More in Opinion

Dawson Slaughter is president of the Anchor Point Chamber of Commerce and a candidate for State House District 6. (Courtesy photo)
Opinion: Children, education, obligation

Our children and the future children of Alaskans must always be the priority and first in our education concerns

The Exxon Baton Rouge, smaller ship, attempts to off-load crude from the Exxon Valdez that ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez, Alaska, spilling over 270,000 barrels of crude oil, shown March 26, 1989. (AP Photo/Rob Stapleton)
Point of View: Exxon Valdez oil spill brought out local heroes

When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound 35 years ago, local people sprang to respond long before Exxon provided any help

Larry Persily. (Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: No Alaska governor has ever so boldly held schools and students as political hostages

‘Star Trek’ reference looks past real argument for school funding

Rep. Justin Ruffridge, a Soldotna Republican who co-chairs the House Education Committee, speaks in favor overriding a veto of Senate Bill 140 during floor debate of a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature on Monday, March 18, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Rep. Justin Ruffridge: Supporting education

Capitol Corner: Legislators report back from Juneau

Rep. Ben Carpenter, a Nikiski Republican, speaks in opposition to overriding a veto of Senate Bill 140 during floor debate of a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature on Monday, March 18, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Rep. Ben Carpenter: Education is too important to keep getting wrong

Capitol Corner: Legislators report back from Juneau

Larry Persily. (Juneau Empire file photo)
Point of View: Some state lawmakers need to embrace reality, not PFD political theater

State revenues minus public services do not leave enough in the checkbook to pay an oversized dividend

Rep. Ben Carpenter, R-Nikiski, speaks about teacher bonuses during consideration a bill increasing state funds for public education in the Alaska House of Representatives on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Rep. Ben Carpenter: Holding up a mirror to state government

Capitol Corner: Legislators report back from Juneau

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, speaks in opposition to an executive order that would abolish the Board of Certified Direct-Entry Midwives during a joint legislative session on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Sen. Jesse Bjorkman: Ensuring food security for Alaska

Capitol Corner: Legislators report back from Juneau

Most Read