Digital legacies and what happens to our online presence after death are important issues. There are three key issues: (1) online memorials and how social media accounts are memorialized, (2) questions of privacy and who owns digital property after death, and (3) creating personal digital archives and determining how to manage one's digital legacy. Services exist to download your digital content and some allow nominating contacts to notify and share data with after a set time period of inactivity. However, protocols for digital estates need more standardization and digital archiving services could be improved.

1. Death and the Internet:
digital legacies
Dr Craig Bellamy, DHA2016
Hobart, June 2016

2. Key issues
A. Online memorials
B. Property and privacy
C. Personal digital archives

3. Online memorials

4. Social media & memorialisation
• When a user passes away, their account is “memorialised”
• Only confirmed “friends” can see the timeline
• “friends” can leave posts in remembrance
• Also prevents anyone from logging into the account

7. B: Privacy and Property
1. What do I actually own?
2. Should I delete it?
3. Or should I give It away?

8. Music

9. Music

10. Images

11. Images

12. YouTube

13. eBooks

14. email
 You agree that your Yahoo! account is non-
transferable and any rights to your Yahoo! ID or
contents within your account terminate upon
your death

15. Mobile accounts and texts

16. C: Personal Digital Archives
1. How do I manage my legacy?
2. What services are available?
3. Can it be repurposed?

17. Download!
 Facebook (can download almost everything)
 Twitter (can download entire twitter archive)
 YouTube (can download everything in original format)
 Google Takeout

18. Google Takeout

19. Google inactive account manager (or
‘death manager’)
 Time period (6-12 months)
 Notify contacts and share data (up to 10 people)
 Delete everything!

20. Personal digital archives

21. Repurposing content
 ‘New tools to support repurposing content should be considered
 Technology Heirlooms’ - memories of loved ones cherished through
uses of technology (Kirk & Banks 2008)
Kirk, D. and Banks, R. 2008. On the Design of Technology Heirlooms. International
Workshop on Social Interaction and Mundane Technologies (SIMTech’08).

22. Digital Register
 Creating a digital register
http://www.digitalheritage.net.au/planning/

23. Pending issues
 There are significant inconsistencies and ad-hoc
arrangements on institutions deal with death
and the internet
 The importance of creating personal digital
archives is not well established in the popular
imagination (nor products for re-purposing
content)
 Protocols and practices of bequeathing digital
assets (ie. digital wills) not well established