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19 March 2024

Who owns your Facebook, Twitter account after you die?

Published

Have you ever wondered what will happen to your Facebook, Twitter and email accounts after you pass away? Who should your passwords be handed over to in your absence? Or should they lie in limbo? Or should there be a service in place to tie up an individual's online life after their lifeline is switched off.

As more and more people ponder about the future of their online legacy, the concept of digital wills is gaining popularity. Those who wish to pass on their  digital wealth or footprint can make a digital will and their wishes will be carried out by a virtual executor who will tidy up the online legacy that an individual will leave behind after his death.

Whether it is a matter of handing over social media passwords, online bank account passwords, personal photograph collection, or even closing subscriptions to embarrassing graphic sites that individuals don't want their family and friends to know of, are all carried out by the guardians of digital wills, as per the individual's wishes, reports Daily Mail.

A number of companies are now offering the 'digital will' services as digital inheritance gains popularity among the internet savvy who want to pass on certain parts of their online avataar to their loved ones or who want to rub out their online footprints from certain sections of the cyber world.

Those interested in maintaining their digital will have to keep their passwords updated all the time in order for the will to be executed properly. Outdated or expired passwords won't help anyone.

However, the rules that govern online legacy is a little different from the regular version. For example, online possessions such as music collections cannot be passed on as they are set up for the use of one individual alone and their rules do not allow them to be passed on to anyone else.

There is a real possibility that unless people choose to create a digital will, their personal online contents will be lost in the cyberspace for ever and those left behind might suffer for a long time as access to online bank accounts or even email accounts are not possible without passwords.

Experts urge every online individual to create their digital wills while it is still easy on the pocket to do so.

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