Britons leave internet passwords in wills

 

A growing number of Britons are including their internet passwords in their wills so that their family and friends can access and save their personal data on sites such as Facebook after they die, says a new report.

One in 10 people in the UK now leave this information in their will according to a new survey by Goldsmiths at the University of London.

The study, carried out on behalf of cloud computing company Rackspace, found that more than a quarter of people in the UK have hundreds of pounds worth of music and films stored online that they wish to pass on to loved ones.

People are also leaving their passwords to sites such as Facebook and Flickr, in a bid to ensure their personal data is archived and not abused.

During the last couple of years, there have been many cases of people hijacking other’s Facebook accounts, who are no longer here to control their digital identity.

Often Facebook accounts of the deceased, for which family members cannot easily obtain the password, become digital shrines, but then can fall prey to spammers.

Growing numbers of people want their digital identities to be controlled after they are gone. They also want their families to have access to personal photos and home videos which are now more commonly being stored in the cloud, rather in a physical album at home.

Solicitor Matthew Strain told Sky News: "With more photos, books, music and so on being stored online and in digital format, the question of what happens to these when people are gone becomes more important every day.

"We have started to advise clients on the topic of digital inheritance as it is something people should be thinking, and doing something about as part of the provisions in their will.

"Making provisions for digital inheritance in a will or codicil is relatively straightforward."

The European Union is currently working on enshrining a "right to be forgotten online".

Viviane Reding, the EU justice commissioner, who is proposing the law, said earlier this year: "I want to explicitly clarify that people shall have the right – and not only the possibility – to withdraw their consent to data processing.

"The burden of proof should be on data controllers – those who process your personal data. They must prove that they need to keep the data, rather than individuals having to prove that collecting their data is not necessary."

 

 

 

 

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