What is a Digital Legacy Plan?
A plan which details how you would like your online accounts and digital assets managed after your death. It can make things easier for those managing your affairs during an already stressful, difficult time.
What are Digital Assets?
photos & files you have stored online
accounts: from banking accounts, paypal etc, to email & social media accounts like Facebook
online storage accounts: iCloud, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox etc
subscriptions: Netflix, Spotify, any premium (paid) versions of iCloud, Google, OneDrive etc. Make a list of these and their login details to prevent ongoing charges
How to Make Your Digital Legacy Plan:
make a list of all your online accounts & services. Include the name of the account, the web address of the account, your username, password, the type of account if relevant (e.g. free, paid) and any instructions you have, e.g how you want the account handled, do you want it closed, what do you want done with the data etc
appoint a Digital Executor. Tell them about your Digital Legacy Plan and either provide a copy or let them know how to access it. If you keep this document on your PC, make sure your digital executor has the login details for your device. You may also want to provide PINS, passcode etc for your other digital devices. You can also include the name of your digital executor and the location of your plan in your Will.
keep your plan updated. If you use a password manager, make sure it’s automatically updating passwords if you change them, or do this manually
consider creating a master document with these details in something like Microsoft’s Secure Vault (you can store 3 documents in here with a free account) & provide your Microsoft password to your digital executor
Tools & Services
Legacy Contacts. Facebook and Apple allow you to appoint ‘Legacy Contacts’ who can access your accounts after your death. Your Facebook legacy contact can delete your account or keep it active as a memorial page. Apple gives your legacy contact an access key and they can access your account with this key and a death certificate. Google has an Inactive Account Manager feature for managing your Gmail & YouTube accounts in the event of your death
consider using a Password Manager (some, like Bitwarden, are free). These are programs that create and store strong passwords for you and can be accessed with one master password. This makes things easier for your digital executor, but make sure this is included in your legacy plan!
many web browsers automatically save and store your passwords. These can be accessed in your browser settings, but make sure your executor has your device login details or they will not be able to see them.
Getting Things Ready
organize your files into folders to make it easier for your digital executor to find them.
consider creating an ‘important documents’ folder for easy access to important documents
consider any files or pictures that are private. You may wish to delete these or put them in a password protected folder. You can also lock (password protect) albums in Google photos
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