People concerned about what remains on the internet when they die are compiling “digital wills” to help erase any embarrassing online legacies. Increasing number of Britons are leaving their passwords, login details, passwords and detailed instructions to digital executors who then use that personal information to tidy up web-based information. By accessing the information from a secure server, an executor can erase secret email folders, close subscriptions to gambling or pornography websites or remove photographs from Facebook pages. The “digital wills” keep passwords in a secret location but can allow paying clients to update them. When they die, a named guardian can access the information when a death certificate is presented. “This service is a series of signposts that lets people know that you have these accounts and how to access them. I have bank accounts that are entirely online. A recent study by Goldsmiths, University of London, showed that more than one in 10 people had made provisions to pass on internet passwords after their deaths or had planned to do so. At present Facebook does not release a person’s password to next of kin and only closes the page after being shown the death certificate, which can take several months. When a Facebook user dies and the company is informed, their page can be “memorialised”, hiding features such as status updates and allowing only confirmed friends to view the timeline and post comments on the profile. One aspect that cannot be legally transferred after death, is digital music and e-book collections, which are licensed for individual use and cannot be bequeathed. Some websites even allow a person to store emails that will be sent at staggered intervals after your death.
