The chair of the New Zealand Law Society’s Property Law Section, Chris Moore, says people are storing ever-larger amounts of information online but seldom consider what will happen to it after they die.

“We would advise anyone who makes or reviews a will to consider what could be called their ‘digital legacy’,” Mr Moore said today.

“When people die, their relatives might want to be able to access information which has been stored online – such as emails, photos or other documents. If the password or login details aren’t known or accessible, this can be very difficult,” he said.

Mr Moore said while “digital legacy” was not currently a big issue, it was likely to become more and more important. There had already been at least one court case overseas where relatives of a deceased person had sued an email provider to gain access to that person’s account.

“Lawyers who deal with wills regularly say that most of their clients never consider the possibility that their loved ones may need to access their online information after they die,” he said.

“What we are suggesting is that people consider whether or not they would want their relatives or others to be able to access their online information, and if they decide that they do, to record their intentions – and a will is one of the best places to do this,” Mr Moore said.

One potential problem arose when people signed up to participate in internet-based services such as Facebook, YouTube or MySpace. Users were required to accept a standard form agreement which often prescribed the procedures to take place upon the death of a user. Mr Moore said many people did not read the finer details and were therefore not aware of the potential access problems.

“The best way to state your wishes for your digital assets is in an up-to-date will. This should specify where your account information can be found – if you want to share it – to whom access should be given, and your wishes regarding keeping or destroying digital assets,” he said.

Mr Moore said that while it could be helpful to keep an up-to-date list of passwords and other account information in a safe place, it was obviously important to ensure that the prohibitions on recording details by providers of services such as online bank accounts were complied with.

The New Zealand Law Society has prepared a simple checklist which can be used to by people to consider their digital legacy, along with information on the policies of popular web services on the death of users.

ENDS

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