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We live in an era where our existence is duplicated: a physical, tangible life, and a digital life, made up of bits, clouds, and social profiles. When a person passes away, managing this intangible heritage becomes a complex issue, often painful for family members. In Italy, a country with a strong legal and cultural tradition linked to memory, the topic of digital legacy is taking on a central role.
It is not just about recovering photographs or documents. It is about managing the posthumous identity of an individual. Mediterranean culture, which attributes a sacred value to remembrance and commemoration, clashes today with the rigid policies of multinational technology companies. Understanding how to navigate between Italian regulations, European regulations (GDPR), and platform settings has become indispensable.
This article explores how to protect your data and how to manage the accounts of a deceased family member. We will analyze the legal and technical tools available, offering a practical guide to navigating this delicate intersection of affection, law, and technology.
According to a study by the Oxford Internet Institute, by 2100 the profiles of deceased people on Facebook could outnumber those of the living, transforming the platform into humanity’s largest historical archive.
The concept of digital legacy in Italy is relatively recent but rapidly evolving. Unlike material assets, clearly regulated by the Civil Code, digital assets live in a gray area. However, Italy stands out in Europe for its cutting-edge legislation on post-mortem data protection.
The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) does not directly apply to deceased persons, leaving Member States free to legislate. Italy responded with Article 2-terdecies of the Privacy Code. This rule establishes that rights referring to the personal data of deceased persons can be exercised by those who have their own interest or act to protect the data subject.
However, there is a delicate balance. The law allows the deceased to prohibit access to their post-mortem data while alive, except for patrimonial issues or legal defense. This often creates conflicts between the deceased’s desire for privacy and the heirs’ desire for remembrance (or administrative necessity).
Social platforms have developed specific tools to manage online mourning. The approach varies significantly from one service to another, influencing how digital memory is preserved. Transforming an active profile into a memorial account is the key step to freezing content without allowing new unauthorized interactions.
Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, offers two main paths: account deletion or memorialization. A memorial account shows the words “Remembering” next to the name. No one can access it, not even with the password, unless a Legacy Contact has been appointed.
The legacy contact has limited but significant powers. They can manage tribute posts, update the profile picture, and download a copy of shared data (if permitted), but they cannot read private chats. It is crucial to configure this option in the security settings while alive to avoid future bureaucratic blocks.
Google manages an immense amount of data, from emails on Gmail to photos on Google Photos. The company offers a tool called “Inactive Account Manager.” The user can decide after how much time of inactivity (e.g., 3 months) the system should consider the account abandoned.
You can set up to 10 trusted contacts who will receive a notification and, optionally, access to specific data. If nothing is configured, heirs will have to face a long legal procedure with Google, often with uncertain results due to strict US privacy laws.
Planning is the only certain tool: relying on platform post-mortem procedures without prior instructions often means losing access to digital memories forever.
A turning point for digital legacy in Italy was marked by several rulings, in particular that of the Court of Milan in 2021 against Apple. The case concerned the parents of a deceased young man who asked for access to their son’s Apple ID to recover photos and videos.
Apple denied access citing privacy protection and US laws. The Italian judges ruled in favor of the parents, applying the aforementioned Article 2-terdecies. The ruling established that the “emotional bond” constitutes a legitimate interest sufficient to access data, unless the deceased had expressly forbidden it in writing.
This precedent is fundamental. It demonstrates that, in Italy, the right to remembrance and family ties can prevail over Big Tech corporate policies. However, to avoid expensive lawsuits, it is always better to act preventively through the tools made available by the software, such as the Legacy Contact feature introduced by Apple subsequent to these events.
When we talk about digital legacy, we often only think of vacation photos. In reality, digital heritage includes assets of economic and practical value. Cryptocurrencies, NFT wallets, web domains, and ecommerce accounts or subscription services are part of the hereditary estate.
Security is the first obstacle. Without passwords or two-factor authentication codes, accessing an online account or a crypto wallet is almost impossible. Encryption, created to protect us from criminals, becomes an insurmountable barrier for heirs.
For those managing finances online, it is vital to consider a home cybersecurity strategy that includes a succession plan. Using a password manager with an “emergency access” function is a recommended technical solution. It allows you to designate a person who can request access to the password vault in the event of death or incapacity.
Relying exclusively on the cloud is risky. Companies can close accounts due to inactivity or non-payment. A good practice is to keep local copies of the most important data. Regularly performing an email backup and backing up documents to external hard drives ensures that information is not lost if the cloud becomes inaccessible.
Planning your digital succession is an act of responsibility towards your loved ones. It does not require advanced technical skills, just a little organization. Here is a list of concrete actions to take immediately to make the task easier for those left behind.
The first step is to create an inventory. List devices (smartphones, PCs, tablets) and their unlock codes. Next, map out essential online accounts: banking, social media, email, household utilities. Do not write passwords directly in the list unless it is stored securely, but indicate where to find them (e.g., in the password manager).
In Italy, it is possible to draft a will or a specific post-mortem mandate for digital assets. In this document, you can designate a digital executor. It is the right place to clearly express the will to destroy certain data or hand over other data to specific people, resolving potential privacy conflicts upstream.
Maintaining digital hygiene helps. Delete old and unused accounts. Ensure your devices are protected but accessible via emergency procedures. To learn more about how to lock down data while keeping it organized, it is useful to consult a guide on how to make a secure PC and protect data. The less digital chaos you leave, the less burden your heirs will have.
Digital legacy represents a modern challenge that touches the deepest chords of our culture: memory, identity, and family. While technology offers the illusion of immortality through data, it also imposes technical barriers that can make mourning even harder to process. Italian legislation, with the support of the GDPR and the Privacy Code, offers important protections, but the law alone is not enough.
The real solution lies in individual awareness. Configuring legacy contacts on Google and Facebook, using password managers with emergency access, and drafting a digital inventory are fundamental steps. Taking care of your digital legacy is not a macabre thought, but a gesture of care and protection towards the people we love, ensuring that what we wish to pass on remains of us, accessible to those who have the right to it.
Digital legacy is the collection of online assets and data (photos, accounts, cryptocurrencies) that a person leaves behind after death. Managing it is fundamental to preserving emotional memories and recovering economic assets, while avoiding identity theft or post-mortem privacy violations.
You cannot log in directly for privacy reasons. However, you can report the death to Facebook by providing a death certificate to transform the profile into a memorial account or request its deletion. If you were appointed as a 'legacy contact', you will have limited management permissions.
Generally no, platforms protect the secrecy of correspondence even after death. However, Italian law allows heirs to act for 'legitimate interest', which can lead to court appeals to obtain access to data in specific cases.
Without the 'Legacy Contact' feature active, access is blocked. Family members will have to undertake a complex legal path, obtaining a court order to present to Apple to prove the right of succession over digital data.
Yes, but it is risky because a will becomes public. It is safer to indicate in the will the methods for recovering passwords (e.g., via a password manager or a sealed envelope entrusted to third parties) rather than writing them in plain text.