[Ask HN] What happens to your Internet assets when you die?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5124658

by zakelfassi • 13 years ago

2 2 13 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Question is : what happens to you Twitter, Facebook and all your internet social assets when you die ? Is there any way to make them "disappear" ?! Shouldn't we start thinking about this now ? In a 100-years period, we'll have a Zombie FB. Don't you think ?

neeraga• 13 years ago

Wow that is really a nice discussion. A very new and innovation way to look into your social assets.

nonamegiven• 13 years ago

"In a 100-years period, we'll have a Zombie FB."

And if they're still around in 100 years, FB will probably be selling those dead eyeballs to advertisers. They'll certainly retain the data for analytical purposes, regardless of what you'd like them to do.

But seriously, unless you own the hardware, you don't have any assets on the internet, social or otherwise.

If you own the machines that are presenting your "assets" to the internet, then you own what's on the machine, notwithstanding any third party agreements you have with respect to that data.

Everything else is owned by the providers: domain names, email, web pages, blogs, tweets, FB posts, pictures, everything. The only access you or your heirs have after your death is subject to a service's terms of service, any arrangements you may have explicitly made with the service (assuming they'll even make such an arrangement), and your legal will (assuming).

You may cry a mighty Internet "harumph!", but services don't care, or they don't have to. You may think you or your heirs or estate can win a lawsuit, and maybe you can, but why leave it to chance, and why put your heirs through that?

Find out what the policies are with every provider you have, including domain registrars, and then write your will in a way that the provider will accept and can work with. If you can't come to an agreement with a provider, and the assets are important to you, then think of alternatives. Backup at least, possibly up to not using a particular provider.

In particular, if you don't want to live on as a publicly viewable ghost account, that in Facebook's case might even continue to Like things after death, then explicitly determine how to prevent that (if it's possible) and make arrangements that conform with the provider's requirements.

[Ask HN] What happens to your Internet assets when you die?

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