[ExI] The Complicated Case of Passing On Your Digital Estate

[Ben Zaiboc]

On 24/08/2026 10:34, BillK wrote:
> The Complicated Case of Passing On Your Digital Estate
> There’s no perfect way to transfer possession of your digital assets
> to your loved ones after you’re gone. But there are things you can do
> now to make the process easier for them.
> Jill Duffy  Aug 9, 2026
>
> <https://www.wired.com/story/digital-estate-planning-tips/>
> Quote:
> When a loved one dies, who downloads their important files from their
> cloud storage account? Who monitors their email inbox? Who decides
> what happens to the photos and videos on their social media accounts?
> And what if those tasks fall to you?
> -----------------
>
> This sounds like hard work.
> But probably easier to do in advance, before it is really necessary.
> BillK


This is just a consequence of the fact that 'your' data is not actually yours.

It makes the false assumption that all your data on the internet belongs to you. Unless you use a protocol like Atmosphere, that's just not true.

Whether you're alive or not, I doubt that it makes a great deal of difference to the giant IT companies that most people sign over all their digital data to, usually without even realising (or caring) that that's what they're doing.

'Your digital estate' is just a fantasy for most people, I expect. Your data does not belong to you, so there's no issue with deciding what happens to it, that decision is way beyond the reach of most people.

You might be able to persuade, or trick, Meta, Google, Microsoft, etc., to release your data (actually, their data) into your or someone else's hands, but don't be fooled into thinking that it belongs to you in any meaningful sense. People have to make an effort to keep their data out of the hands of the IT giants, and most people don't want to even know.

Those that do, and have made the modest effort to disentangle themselves from 'big IT' will already know that 'passing on your digital estate' is actually easy, once it really is yours.

-- 
Ben