The digital age may make things easier in many ways, but it can sometimes add to our practical workload in the real, physical world. As more of us embrace the internet, online services and social media what happens to our online activity when we die and why is it important to manage our digital legacy?
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What is a digital legacy?
This is the name for your profiles on the internet. It’s not just your Facebook or Twitter profiles, but your online bank accounts, credit cards and accounts with online shops. It includes everything from your music accounts on iTunes and Spotify, your sign in to emails and everything in between.
Think about your daily activity online and you’ll soon see there can be a huge amount of digital data to leave behind.
Why is it important to control my digital legacy?
There are many reasons for managing digital legacies. Stored bank accounts, online store accounts and credit card details can be rich pickings for identity thieves and hackers. Many families wish to convert Facebook pages to memorial pages for the deceased (or they may wish to close the accounts all together) and ongoing paid memberships can quickly add up to additional debts and nasty surprises down the line.
Control your own digital legacy
Just as it’s vital to appoint an executor of your will, it’s important to appoint someone you trust to manage your online legacy in the event of your death. Avoid adding un-necessary workload at an already stressful time by keeping a detailed list of all of your accounts, passwords and other important information so your chosen representative can quickly access your digital presence, and act on your wishes.
Help to manage digital legacies
There is lots of useful information available to help guide you through what to do when someone dies. After the funeral, there are important tasks that require attention and executing someone’s digital legacy falls into this area.
Digital End of Life is our latest toolkit to help guide you through the practical arrangements when someone close to you dies.
Download the PDF here and if you have more questions call us to discuss on 0131 447 5858
