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What happens to online accounts after death

2022-01-09T09:51:38.719Z


E-mails, photos, films and the streaming subscription: survivors also have to look after their digital legacy in the event of death. However, the service providers stand up against each other if no estate administrator has been appointed.


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Social media apps: "They're waiting for someone to sue them"

Photo: OLI SCARFF / AFP

By the time people die, inheritance is no longer just about money, stocks, and real estate, it's also about data.

In the event of death, the heirs have to ask themselves what happens to photos on the cell phone, whether e-mail accounts should be deleted and the Instagram channel should be put in a commemorative state.

According to a study by the industry association Bitkom, around 40 percent of Germans have wholly or partially regulated what happens to their data after death.

That's a good idea.

Because if you have to knock on the online services after a death in your personal environment, you usually encounter resistance.

With the current iOS 15.2 mobile operating system, Apple is encouraging users to designate their estate administrators.

Anyone who is selected to take over the account after death will receive a key so that they can access the personal data in the iCloud as an inheritor.

This includes private messages, photos and notes, among other things.

The heir can back up the data for three years, after which the Apple account is permanently deleted.

But how do other service providers deal with the death of users?

We looked at what happens to movies, video games, and Spotify subscriptions in the event of death - and how to prepare your will online.

What happens to accounts on Facebook, Google, Instagram and Twitter in the event of death?

The large providers have taken precautions in the event that a user dies. In the social network Facebook, for example, you can specify during your lifetime that the account is permanently deleted after death. In addition, an estate contact can be determined from the friends list who can manage the account in the event of death. This person can put the account in a commemorative state so that the addition "in memory of" appears in front of the name of the deceased. In addition, the person can post a status message about the commemoration and change the profile picture. If no estate administrator has been created, the only way to do this is via the contact form.

On Instagram, the account can be frozen or completely deleted upon request.

There are even fewer options on Twitter.

The only thing that survivors can do is to ask Twitter to remove the account.

Twitter requires "information about the deceased, a copy of your ID card and a copy of the deceased person's death certificate."

Even those who want to access their e-mails and documents in the cloud storage after the death of a Google user have to be prepared for bureaucratic hurdles.

"Under certain circumstances, we can also grant access to content in the account of a deceased user," says Google.

There is no guarantee.

Why are estate administrators not allowed to access private Facebook messages?

This is a sensitive subject. Parents of a dead girl had to fight for years in court to read their daughter's Facebook messages. They did not have their daughter's login credentials, so they contacted the company with a request to unblock the chats for them. But Facebook refused the request, citing the privacy of the daughter and her friends.

The mother went to court.

The Federal Court of Justice ruled five and a half years later that Facebook must allow the chats for the parents.

However, the judgment does not apply in principle.

Even those who appoint an estate administrator on Facebook in advance must assume that the news will remain taboo for the bereaved.

"The US corporations are not interested in the verdict," said lawyer Christoph Roland Foos in an interview with SPIEGEL.

"It is often not implemented."

Should I arrange the discount for online platforms in good time?

Yes. Otherwise it will be complicated for the bereaved. First of all, relatives have to find out where the deceased has created profiles and then look for suitable passwords. This can be a very tedious task. "It pays to settle the digital estate while you are alive," says Foos.

Consumer advocates recommend creating a table with all online profiles, access data and instructions such as »delete account« or »save photos«.

This list should, for example, be saved on a USB stick or filed in a folder and stored in a safe place such as a safe at the notary's.

The previously appointed administrator of the estate should know the storage location and be given a power of attorney to look after the accounts after death.

It should be taken into account that the deceased's smartphone may be required for two-factor authentication.

Can digital films and songs be inherited?

It depends on. Anyone who has saved videos and songs as files on the hard drive without copy protection can leave them to an heir. Downloads without digital rights management (DRM) are inherited, such as CDs, records or DVDs. However, if films or music are linked to an account, then it looks different. Films purchased from Amazon, Apple and Co. are permanently linked to the account. The usage permit expires upon death.

Foos believes that things should actually be different: “There's no reason why digital games, songs and films shouldn't be inherited. The providers actually have to overwrite the digital content on the accounts of the heirs. «In practice, however, this does not happen because companies from the USA do not want to deal with the question. Inquiries from inheritance law experts usually go unanswered. "They're waiting for someone to sue them."

The inheritance law regulated in the German Civil Code (BGB) is not of great help to lawyers.

"The BGB is an ingenious construction and an export hit, but it often does not keep pace with modern technological developments in society," says Foos.

There are still "regulations for the move out of a swarm of bees and their pursuit" deposited.

In the case of digital inheritance law, on the other hand, it looks bleak.

"Sometimes you feel very powerless."

What about video games?

If games are stored on a Blu-Ray or other data carrier, the title becomes part of the estate.

Games without copy protection such as downloads from the online portal “GOG” are also considered to be hereditary assets.

However, once the video games are purchased through an online account, things get complicated.

Providers are unprepared for deaths and keep a low profile when it comes to inheritance.

At the request of SPIEGEL, Sony, Microsoft and Valve do not want to comment on whether titles purchased in the Playstation Store, Xbox Store or Steam can be inherited.

At least in China, however, there seems to be movement in the subject.

The Internet company Tencent apparently applied for a patent in the summer to transfer digital purchases to an heir's account.

What happens to subscriptions to Amazon, Netflix, Spotify and Co. after death?

Subscriptions to streaming providers such as Amazon, DAZN, Netflix, Sky and Spotify simply continue to run after the death of a user. This means that money will continue to be withdrawn from the account. The heirs should therefore react as quickly as possible to terminate contracts. Many services offer a contact form for this purpose, in order to terminate the contract prematurely with a death certificate, certificate of inheritance and identity card with a special right of termination and to have the account deleted.

But it usually takes a long time before the documents are there.

"There is a certificate of inheritance only after the inheritance proceedings," says Foos.

"That can take half a year." The payments can only be stopped quickly if you register with the data of the deceased.

The problem: Most terms of use prohibit this.

"I still advise you to do this from practice," says Foos.

Ultimately, you have no other choice.

"As a lawyer, I would have no qualms about logging into the deceased's Netflix account and canceling the subscription."

Source: spiegel

All tech articles on 2022-01-09

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