In a few decades Facebook, Twitter, Instagram would have more profiles of deceased people than living ones: how to deal with the digital legacy of our relatives in Ecuador?

Six months ago, Mercedes’ cousin died in a traffic accident. She tells that she is trying to assimilate the tragedy. She grew up with him since she was little and she considered him a brother. She claims that a month ago she received two notifications from Facebook about a “memento” with her cousin and the reminder of her birthday.

“Those notifications reminded me of everything again and I got sick. I decided not to open Facebook for a long time, ”she says. To avoid these painful and uncomfortable moments or to honor and protect the memory of the loved one who has passed away, various social networks have established protocols to deal with their digital legacy.

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The digital legacy looms as a big problem for social networks after a couple of decades, since they will have data such as photos, live broadcasts, videos of more deceased than living people. 20 years ago, when the first social networks just started, this was not considered a problem or even a point on their agendas.

“If you don’t plan what to do with the fingerprint, it’s up to other people to go through this process. In addition to their pain and the usual paperwork, they’ll have to deal with Facebook, Twitter, Apple, or whatever account you have. Less than 15 years ago, this wasn’t really a problem, but now managing the digital legacy of deceased family and friends is a growing problem, and in a few decades, platforms like Facebook might even have more profiles of dead people than living people. , mainly as their user base starts to stagnate.”, says Camilo Gutiérrez Amaya, head of the ESET Latin America Research Laboratory.

In fact, in Ecuador there is already evidence of a stagnation of users on social networks such as Facebook. For two years in a row, the number of profiles on this platform has not risen above thirteen million.

The procedures established by some social networks to manage digital legacy are relatively simple, take no more than an hour, and should be reviewed every five years or so to ensure that the people who have been given the power to decide what to do with the virtual life after death, remain the same.

Facebook

In this social network you can delete the account in case of death. This is a request made to Facebook. This requires someone to send a photo of the death certificate to Meta, to report the death. It’s important to make sure that someone close to you knows that this is what you want so that you move forward when the time comes.

You can also choose a legacy contact who will manage the account to commemorate it. This should be someone you trust who is willing to manage the profile, tribute posts, photos, etc. While for some people this can be emotionally distressing, others may find comfort in it.

Whether you decide to have someone take care of the profile or delete it, you should talk to the person who you think could do it. Additionally, this contact must be able to access the death certificate and must have a Facebook account. Link with instructions.

instagram

Even though Instagram is part of Meta, just like Facebook, Instagram users cannot decide on the deletion of their accounts. An account can be memorialized at the request of an authorized person or family member in possession of a death certificate, but no one will be able to manage your images, videos, or privacy settings.

Instagram’s terms of use are clear: You own your content, but you give permission for Instagram to use it as you see fit, as long as you’re on the platform. While no one can delete an account after death, Instagram can still argue its right to use content from it. Instructions link.

Google

Many people use Google services like Gmail, YouTube, or even Google Drive. To prevent important information from becoming inaccessible, Google Inactive Account Manager can be enabled. The platform will then be able to detect account inactivity and issue a downloadable link to a previously chosen contact.

The period of time that determines inactivity is decided by the user, as is what data can be downloaded. You can also decide if an account should be deleted three months after it was shared with the legacy contact. However, this implies that all content will be removed, including YouTube videos or blog posts, a reason why not everyone might want to enable this option.

If it is decided not to leave any instructions, family members or legal representatives may request the deletion of the account and even some data or funds. Google indicates that the decision will continue to have privacy as a priority and each case will be reviewed individually. Instructions link.

Microsoft

It does not provide any specific tools that allow you to manage the legacy, or for a family member to request the removal of an account. However, Microsoft will remove the accounts in compliance with a court order. The only exception applies to customers in Germany, whose legal successors can contact Microsoft customer service and, if in possession of a death certificate and other documents, request account closure.

Twitter

It does not have any policy in place that allows you to decide what will happen to an account after the user dies. Instead, allow a family member or authorized representative to contact Twitter and request account removal. The platform will request copies of the death certificate, as well as the applicant’s ID card and possibly some additional information. Instructions link.

Manzana

In 2021 it introduced the possibility of choosing a legacy contact. This feature is only available to people 13 and older and has some technical limitations: You must have an active Apple ID on a device running at least iOS 15.2, iPadOS 15.2, or macOS Monterey 12.1. The Apple ID must also have two-factor authentication enabled.

If the requirements are met, this process can be performed on the device by tapping on the Apple ID icon in the Settings menu, selecting “Password & Security”, and finally selecting Legacy Contact. This will generate an access key in a QR code format that can be sent via Messages or printed and given to the chosen person. When the day comes, you can request access on the web or directly on an iOS or macOS device. Apple will also request a death certificate before granting access to the account.

PayPal

You may only receive instructions from an authorized executor or administrator of the deceased’s estate to close an account and transfer funds. In addition to the death certificate, the legal representative will also need to have proof of her position through a living will or state-issued documentation. Finally, the remaining balance can be transferred to another PayPal account or issued as a check.

Carolina Bueno, who lives in Quito, comments that she already selected several years ago, on platforms like Facebook, a person who will be in charge of managing her digital legacy when she dies.

“We live longer in a virtual world, our information is there, we have registered with countless apps, portals, networks, etc. For me it is important to be aware of this, and to know who is going to take care of these accounts, when I can no longer do it. Years ago I already delegated to my best friend to take charge of some of my network accounts. I prefer to delegate what I want to do with each of these accounts acquired from now on, it also helps me organize all my virtual records. It takes a few minutes and is easy to do.”, he points out.

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When asked why she chose a friend and not a relative, she says that this person “knows social networks and knows how to handle the virtual world well.”

Diego Riofrío, director of the UISEK Digital School, indicates that the procedure to cancel an account due to death or transform it into a commemorative one is easy, but the “great obstacle” comes from the social and psychological aspect of the relatives.

“From my own experience I have seen that it is the family members who do not want to do this process. My dad passed away a few years ago and mom still manages her social networks and she doesn’t want to shut them down. She has her phone that is already old and there are applications that she will no longer support due to the updates and my mom suffers. Therein lies the problem because if the family member doesn’t want to, how can Facebook or Google force the family member to do it??” he points out.

The specialist indicates that for social networks to self-clean this data they should have agreements with the civil registries of governments around the world, but this is unfeasible and that is why they let the family members decide.

“It is not convenient for the platforms to store this information either because it is the so-called junk data, since with the data of living people they are the ones that really carry out digital marketing and from there they obtain resources”, he points out. (YO)