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

[Keith Henson]

Some suspension members at Alcor have spent considerable money on lawyers
so they could take it with them. I am not sure what the best path is, but
Max More (who is on this list) would know.

Keith


On Mon, Aug 24, 2026 at 3:51 PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

>
> My dream is to have a fully automated agent running before I die, with
> access to everything, including a bunch of my Crypto (to help finance
> paying for its ability to run in the cloud) until I get restored from
> cryonic preservation.  Its goal would be to act as if it were me, invest
> whatever assets I leave it, collect anything it can which belongs to me,
> and ultimately restore me from cryonic preservation.
>
> Isn't that what everyone should be working towards, as far as digital
> assets go?
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> On Mon, Aug 24, 2026 at 8:55 AM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat <
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
>> 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
>>
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