We have spoken on the subject of digital assets many times over the past several years. With no uniform legislation on what should become of a deceased person's online accounts like Facebook and Twitter, who, if anyone, should have access to those accounts and what level of access they should be granted?
This week, the Uniform Law Commission, whose members are appointed by state governments to help standardize state laws, endorsed a plan for "digital assets." It would give particular individuals access to — but not control of — the deceased's digital accounts unless a will says otherwise.
This is big news for the "digital afterlife" as such laws would trump a web site's user agreements/privacy policies that may otherwise prohibit people from accessing an account that isn't theirs. We will continue to track the legislation's progress. To become law, the legislation would have to be adopted by each state's legislature.