Post-Mortem Selfie

To whom it may concern:

                        When I die, please make sure my profile picture is me wearing a bowtie.

Facebook profiles after death

By Eric Wessan (Property Rights) - When a friend dies, it can be extraordinarily difficult to deal with.  In addition to all of the emotions that build up, comforting the bereaved can be tough on a personal level.  But now it seems almost as important for acquaintances of the dead to post thoughtful messages about their time together, or lack thereof, on the Facebook wall of the recently deceased.

Just a few years ago, it was unclear what happened to a Facebook profile, its pictures and the information contained within, upon someone’s death.  The question did not come up until both larger numbers of people started to die and Facebook became central enough to online identity that people cared about what happened to the profile. Could it be willed to someone else? Was it the property of the corporation? As the number of older people using this resource increased, and more importantly the number of dying people, it became apparent that there were questions around digital property after death that must be resolved.

These questions about digital property rights do not end at the Facebook profile page.  Tens of millions of Americans have an ITunes account, millions more an account on Amazon and Google Play.  People buy songs, videos, book, games and all sorts of digital property on these accounts.  While they are alive it seems fairly clear that these purchased possessions belong to their owner.  But what happens to this digital property when the owner dies?

Unfortunately, the surprising answer is that for the most part the digital rights do not transfer.  When I die, the hundreds of books on my kindle may stay on my kindle, but the ownership of the books does not transfer.  I cannot leave ‘Catch-22’ to a friend nor can I will my collection of ‘Twilight’ books to my sister.  Digital property bought through these tech giants never truly belongs to the purchaser, it is just theirs for the duration of their life.  In a fitting but entirely unsatisfying sort-of-way, the content cannot be transferred post-mortem.  Reminiscent of the ancient Pharaohs or the Emperor in Xi’an, your digital property will be buried with you to serve in the afterlife.

            When I first heard that this was the case, that my carefully curated collections that I have spent close to a decade completing would effectively die with me, if I were to die today, I was aghast.  This seems contrary to the American way! When something is mine it should belong to me and no company, government or group should be able to take that away.  But as I have had time to grow used to the idea, the initial anger has receded. 

Now, when one dies on Facebook a loved one with proof can make their page a memorial.  While it seems a touch macabre to allow a representation of a dead man to grin out of his profile picture into eternity, hopefully it provides support to those still alive.

Perhaps given enough time, these companies will continue to adjust to the ever-shifting digital world. But I will not be waiting.  Resigned to the current reality, I understand that when it comes to the intellectual property and the copyrighted material these companies produce they are trying to grasp on to whatever vestige of control they have.  My distaste for such grasping remains, but my ire has faded.  I can just give the password on my Amazon account to my sister. Just don’t forget to write something on my wall.