Where Do Your Emails Go After You Pass On To The Great Beyond?

One thing that is unequivocally certain in life is death? Though, the same can’t be said of your digital life. So? the question remains? where do all of your emails/digital files go after you’ve entered the “undiscovered country” (as William Shakespeare termed it), that is death?

What do Facebook, Google And Yahoo Do When You Die?

Let’s take a look at what some of the big digital life giants do after ne passes: Facebook commemorates accounts, and in doing so, allows for the friends of the deceased one to access their old posts and photos. Google is different, if your account is inactive, it sends an email to a trusted contact that’s been designated by the user before they’ve passed, letting them know that they can access their friends account. And finally, Yahoo accounts are simply closed upon a user’s passing.

Uniform Law Commission

That’s all well and good, but? what if a family member wants access to their deceased loved one’s digital accounts and life? Well, that’s where the Uniform Law Commission comes in. According to their new proposal (that they all just agreed upon and passed), they want for families and representatives to have the right of access to their deceased loved one’s digital files, but not control over them. In other words, they can view their emails and communications, but not actively use their account to send emails.

One unsettling concern that the Uniform Law Commission shares is that it may take a very long time for all 50 states in the US to pass their proposal individually. We’ll have more on this in October and November when the final draft of the proposal is completely edited and sent to state legislatures for consideration.

You can check out the final version of the ‘Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act’ that was just accepted and passed by the Uniform Law Commisson right here.