It is undeniable that new technologies are having a transformative impact on our environment, not only on a professional level, but also on our most personal sphere, which encompasses not only us as holders of information, but which also transcends this intimate sphere, affecting the people around us, even beyond our own death. This is why the right to a digital will comes into play.
What is the right to a digital will?
It is on this concept that the legislator gave shape to what is called the digital will which, without deviating from the basic principles of the traditional will, is a document in which it is foreseen what will happen with all the digital information of the testator, such as mail services, data storage or websites, social networks or credit and payment systems where the testator has an account opened on the Internet.
Who can use it?
There is a list of people authorized to exercise this right:
- relatives and heirs of the deceased person have the right to request access to the content of the deceased person on the Internet. They can also suggest edits and changes, or even request deletion of the information in question. This applies unless the deceased had prohibited this option or is prevented from doing so by law.
- The will can also be used by the executor, or by people or organizations chosen or explicitly designated by the deceased.
- If the deceased is a minor, his guardian or legal representative can use his powers.
Types of digital wills
As its name suggests, it is an emergency will which covers the most urgent and compelling needs to be resolved after the death of the testator. It will generally include all the keys and passwords used to manipulate the most critical digital information:
- Personal email account where we store intimate information.
- Remote or cloud storage accounts with photos, documents, contacts, etc.
- Bank accounts, securities, investments… with an online character.
Obviously, given the scale of the processing of data hosted by the social network Facebook, the company itself has provided internal mechanisms to be able to manage data in this situation.
To this end, the social network has created the figure of the legacy contact, a friend or trusted person who must be designated to manage the account after the death of the user. This legacy contact has several limited options, such as changing the profile photo or writing an obituary, but they will not be able to access private messages, delete photos, or edit content.
Google
The giant Google has implemented the digital will through its account settings page. The data contained therein will be deleted after a period of inactivity in the account previously chosen by the customer (3, 6, 9 or 12 days).
You can also choose a trusted person who will receive all the information. Given the importance of these actions, there is an SMS and email verification system.
What to do with a digital will?
Once the digital will has been created, it is logically prudent to legalize it with a notary, in the same way as a traditional will. This procedure will be carried out through a notary.