Digital Legacy: What Happens to Your Online Life After You're Gone?
You have a will for your house, maybe even for your savings. But what about your email? Your photos stored in the cloud? Your social media profiles? Your streaming subscriptions that keep charging every month?
Most of us have a digital life that's just as complex as our physical one — and almost nobody plans for it.
The scope of your digital life
Take a moment to think about how much of your life exists online:
- Email accounts — often the key to everything else
- Social media — Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X
- Financial accounts — banking, investments, cryptocurrency
- Subscriptions — streaming, software, memberships
- Cloud storage — Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox
- Photos and videos — possibly the most precious digital possessions you have
- Password managers — the master key to your digital world
- Business accounts — domains, hosting, professional tools
Without a plan, your family may never be able to access these accounts. Some will stay active indefinitely. Others will be locked forever, along with the memories they contain.
What happens to your accounts when you die?
Each platform handles death differently:
- Facebook allows you to name a Legacy Contact who can manage your profile, or you can choose to have it memorialised or deleted
- Google has an Inactive Account Manager — you can decide what happens to your data after a period of inactivity
- Apple offers a Digital Legacy Contact (iOS 15.2+) who can request access to your iCloud data
- Most banks will work with your estate executor, but online-only accounts can be harder to track down
- Cryptocurrency without the private key or seed phrase, it's gone forever
How to plan your digital legacy
1. Make a list
Start by writing down every significant account you have. You don't need to include passwords in the document itself — just the account names and where to find access.
2. Use a password manager
If you don't already use one, this is the single most impactful step you can take. Store all your passwords in a manager like 1Password or Bitwarden, and make sure one trusted person knows how to access it.
3. Set up legacy contacts
Go through your major accounts and configure their legacy or inactive account settings. This takes 30 minutes and saves your family weeks of frustration.
4. Write your wishes
For each account, note what you'd like to happen:
- Delete — close the account and remove the data
- Memorialise — keep it as a tribute (Facebook, Instagram)
- Transfer — pass ownership to someone specific
- Archive — download and save the content before closing
5. Tell someone
The best plan is useless if nobody knows it exists. Share your digital legacy plan with your trusted person or include it in your broader end-of-life plan.
What about photos?
Photos are often the most emotionally valuable digital asset. Consider:
- Backing up your most important photos to a physical drive
- Sharing access to your cloud storage with a family member
- Creating a shared album of the photos you'd want loved ones to have
- Printing your favourites — physical photos survive platform changes
Don't forget the practical things
Beyond the emotional, there's a practical side too:
- Cancel subscriptions your family might not know about
- Domain names — if you own a website, who should manage it?
- Business accounts — are there clients, invoices, or contracts that need attention?
- Email — this is often the master key; make sure someone can access it
Start with My Elephant
Your digital legacy is just one part of a bigger picture. My Elephant's guided questionnaire includes questions about your digital life, and your personalised plan captures everything — from passwords to preferences — in one secure, encrypted place.
You don't have to sort it all out today. But starting is easier than you think.