In the 21st century, most people have some sort of online presence, whether it is public (often through the use of social media accounts) or private (often through the use of personal email accounts). In fact, there are many people who consider their online identity to be an integral part of their life. As a result of the technology that supports it, one's online presence often exists, at least in some capacity, beyond their death.

Thus, it is important for one to determine what should happen to their online account(s) after their death. It may be one's wish to have their online identity deleted after their passing, or it may be the case—subject to whether or not the platform allows for it—that they prefer for an account to live on as a way for friends and family to reminisce.

Making these decisions in advance can help one relieve the executors of their estate of the stress and emotional hardship associated with managing the presence that they had in the digital world, so that instead, the executors can focus on managing the presence that they had in the real world. However, such decisions are largely dependent on the scheme that each website has established for dealing with a deceased user's account.

The purpose of this bulletin is to consolidate the post-death account management practices of a variety of popular websites. This bulletin is meant to be a general guide to give users a sense of how they can instruct their friends and relatives (and in some cases, the websites themselves) on how to manage their online accounts after their death.

A Word of Caution on Sharing Passwords

One may believe that an effective strategy for post-death online account management is to share their online account passwords with the executors of their estate to be managed accordingly. For several reasons, this is not necessarily a prudent idea.

It seems that the terms of use for the majority of popular websites forbid a user from sharing their password. It is unclear what claims or remedies a website may have against a user who has shared their password (or such user's estate), and thus the risk associated with contravening a given website's terms of use depends on the specific website and facts involved. As it is generally best for one to avoid violating an agreement if they do not know the full extent of the consequences of doing so, one should seek legal advice before taking a course of action that they believe will violate a website's terms of use.

Besides the legal consideration described above, there are practical considerations that should cause one to think twice about creating a password list. First, one may have to unexpectedly change a password. This might occur because of a forgotten password, or it might occur because the website that they are using mandates its users to change their passwords after the expiry of a pre-determined period (such as every six months). In each of these instances, one will have to be diligent in updating a master password list; this is something that one could easily neglect to do and such neglect would reduce the intended usefulness of the list. Perhaps more importantly, sharing passwords, whether through a physical (or digital) list or simply by telling others, can make them more susceptible to privacy and security threats through misuse or interception by a third party.

In contrast, the majority of the below strategies for post-death online account management do not require the user's password. In a world where the corporations that operate these websites are becoming increasingly susceptible to criticisms with respect to privacy, at least some of them have developed relatively straightforward, password-free ways to manage deceased users' accounts.

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The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.