There are quite a few sets of rules that affect your digital property, including federal privacy law, state probate law, and the law governing what requests for information custodians, such as Google, have to produce to. Additionally, there are multiple ways that a user of an account can either prohibit or allow disclosure of his/her account’s contents, such as through an online designation with the provider of the account, a trust or will, power of attorney, or an entirely separate consent instrument. What if a user has inconsistency between these disclosure options? Wisconsin’s Digital Property Act gives one of these options the final say – the “online tool.” [1]

An online tool is a setting that a custodian, like Google, provides to you which allows you, as the user, to “provide directions for disclosure or nondisclosure of digital property to a designated recipient”; it is separate and distinct from the terms of service, aka the “i agree to the terms and conditions” checkbox. [2]

1. Google’s Inactive Account Manager:

Google’s online tool is called the “Google Inactive Account Manager” and allows you to choose up to 10 people who can have access to your data after long periods of inactivity. You specify what the period of inactivity is in 3-month increments between 3-18 months. You can also specify which data your designated person/people have access to, including your log-in activity, calendar, Google Business Profile, Google Photos, Gmail, etc.

2. Facebook’s Legacy Contact:

Facebook’s Legacy Contact allows a user to convert their account to a memorialized profile or to permanently delete their account upon their passing. A memorialized profile has the word “Remembering” next to the user’s name and allows friends and family to share memorizes on the user’s page. The tool allows you to appoint a legacy contact who can accept friend requests, write a pinned post for your page (such as information for your memorial service), and request to delete your account, among other things.

If you choose to request that your account be permanently deleted upon your passing, you should share this information with your loved ones, as Facebook first needs proof of your death to do so. [3]

3. Apple’s Legacy Contacts:

Apple allows users to select multiple people as their legacy contacts who are then granted access to user-specified information, such as the user’s photos, messages, files, notes, apps, etc. When you choose someone as your legacy contact, they are then given an access key. Your legacy contact is not required to have an Apple account, however if they do, they may “accept” the key and digitally store a copy of it in their Apple account settings.

To activate the key, your contact must have a copy of your death certificate and the key, which then must be sent to Apple for verification. Upon verification, Apple will send your legacy contact their own special account that they can then use to access your designated information. Your information is then automatically deleted from the legacy contact’s account after 3 years from the date the account was activated. [4]

4. Microsoft:

Interestingly, Microsoft does not offer an online tool. Microsoft states that if you know the decedent’s log-in credentials, you may use those to cancel the decedent’s subscriptions and account. If you do not know the decedent’s log-in credentials, then the account is automatically deleted after two years of inactivity. If you would like to request a decedent’s digital property held by Microsoft, then you must serve the company with a court order or subpoena, which may or may not result in the company producing the decedent’s digital property. [5]

Schedule a consultation with Wynn at Law, LLC today to discuss the estate planning process

Planning for the disposition of your digital property upon your passing is only one aspect of the estate planning process. For assistance with ensuring that you have a comprehensive estate plan in place, contact Wynn at Law, LLC today for a consultation at 262-725-0175 or visit our website’s contact page. Wynn at Law, LLC is based in Southern Wisconsin and has offices conveniently located in Salem, Delavan, and Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

[1] Wis. Stat. 711.04

[2] Wis. Stat. 711.03(18)

[3] https://www.facebook.com/help/103897939701143?helpref=faq_content

[4] https://support.apple.com/en-us/102631

[5] https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/accessing-outlook-com-onedrive-and-other-microsoft-services-when-someone-has-died-ebbd2860-917e-4b39-9913-212362da6b2f

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