Post #4 Privacy

http://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/01/11995859-digital-afterlife-what-happens-to-your-online-accounts-when-you-die

Digital Afterlife: What happens to your online accounts when you die?

            In 2011, Benjamin Stassen was 21 years old when he committed suicide. Living in this digital era, Benjamin's parents wanted to find clues as to why their son decided to end his life. They realized the best shot they have are his online accounts, mainly social media sites.

            After sending in a court order to Facebook requesting access to their deceased son's account, Facebook replied saying they're sorry for their loss but due to privacy policies, they were unable to release contents. But the Stassen's weren't going to stop there. They wanted answers, and these answers could be hidden in their deceased son's social media accounts, and if not it could at the least be some form of closure for the grieving parents.

            Currently, only five states have estate laws that include digital assets; Connecticut, Rhode Island, Oklahoma, Indiana and Idaho. With the exception of Oklahoma and Idaho including social networking and blogging as part of these estates, the other three only include e-mail. But even then, they still must confront the social networking site itself, as the Stassen's did with Facebook.

            Yes most people don't think about what's going to happen to their online accounts when they die, but perhaps people are start going to when more cases like this arise.

            Google, Yahoo and Facebook have taken the position that the user probably intended for the contents of their account to remain private, which is why they choose to not disclose any user's information once deceased. These companies have certain expectations of privacy with users accounts. Perhaps because of the liability issues. There are certain states that actually prohibit internet companies from disclosing information without the permission of the user. But what about the Stassen's case?

            The Stassen’s have received the contents of Benjamin's Gmail account as a result of filing a court order. Google also stated that they provided this because it is a "rare occasion" and his parents are authorized representatives, however they still have not received any contents from Facebook.

            According to Facebook, there are 2 options for dead users accounts. The account can be memorialized which means the profile will be left up for family and friends to look at and post in remembrance, however it restricts the profile and associated content to the Facebook "friends" that the deceased had while alive. Or, the family members can have the account deactivated if they choose to do so.

            With majority of states not having definite law of digital assets with it comes to a users death, companies must look to their user agreements and laws of the individual states. Currently, it comes down to loved ones having to file a court order.

            So what does this mean for the future? In this digital era, where people can know where you are, who you're with and how long you've been there just by a click or touch from a smartphone or computer, clearly this issue is going to raise more concern in the near future. In the Stassen's case, it is a sad time for the family, however this is the digital era we live in. Although we think our privacy is gone due to the internet and social networking sites, it is apparent we still do have some form of definite privacy when it comes to people accessing our accounts and passwords. But isn't this what we want? Except in the rare occasions such as the Stassens. With all of the hacking that has happened to people over the years, you would think these internet companies policies are a good thing, however it seems it all comes down to the circumstances.  Yahoo for example says on its site that all accounts are non-transferable and it will delete an account when they receive a death certificate.

            So what do we do? It seems there are limited options until there is an official law passed in terms of deceased individuals digital assets. We can set up a joint account so that at least one other individual has access to the account. We can discuss with our close loved ones exactly what we want to happen with our account, however this still may include giving up your password etc. while you're still alive. Other than that it seems we must wait to see what these Internet companies decide to do. Some companies such as Entrustet and Legacy Locker allow users to come up with a plan for the life their online accounts after you've passed. For now all we can do is try to keep our accounts under control and private unless we wish to do otherwise.