DATA AFTER DEATH ALL OF US HAVE BIG FOOTPRINT ON THE NET.BUT WHAT HAPPENS TO ONLINE ACCOUNTS AND CONENT WHEN ITS CREATOR DIES ?

DATA AFTER DEATH 
ALL OF US HAVE BIG FOOTPRINT ON THE NET.BUT WHAT HAPPENS TO ONLINE ACCOUNTS AND CONENT WHEN ITS CREATOR DIES ?
by nandagopal rajan

Most of us now live two lives, one in our actual world and the other in the virtual, When we die, our physical existence might come to an end, but the virtual presence Lingers on. But what happens to all the content we have created online, our online accounts, our virtual transactions? What happens to stuff we have stored in the cloud and, unknowingly, in servers across the globe? While most major corporates have privacv policies that explain how, and if, the virtual accounts and content can he bequeathed to legal heirs (most digital data will belong to the company), some individuals have alreadv started making 'digital wills’.

Supreme Court lawyer and Coverall Asia President Pavan Duggal, who has helped people make digital wills,says, “Nornially, people who have digital assets or confidential digital information, which they need to preserve and bequeath beyond their lifetime, are those who go for this option.”But the nuinhers are still few as there is little awareness about the topic as well as a lack of adequate laws.

"We do not have in place any law in India pertaining to digital legacies of people," explains Dug gal. “There is the information Technology Act, 2000, which is applicable to all digital information, data and as sets. However, its applicability is excluded to testamentary, disposition and wills.The law pertaining to wills is governed by the Indian Succession Act. We require specific laws in the country pertaining to digital legacies and bequeathing their digital assets to the next of kin."

Online banking is an ether area where there is data left behind. The banks we centacted did not have a specific answer on what happens to online accounts once the account holder is no more, The Income Tax Department, however, is one up on them.lt has put up a directive clarifying that the legal heir has te file the return in case an assessee expires. “The legal heir (LH) is required te make a request hy sending a mail to.ask@cometaxindia.gov.in mentioning

the name, PAN, date of birth of deceased as well as that of the LH along with scanned attachment of the death certificate of the deceased. On receipt of above, LH would be en· abled to file the return of deceased

using LH`s DSC," says the website. But what about all the online content we create, our blog posts, pictures we post on Facebook and such stuff? “ Just like any other literary content, after the author dies,the economic rights in the work concerned pass on to the legal heirs for another 60 years following the calendar year after the author’s death," says Lath:R. Nair, Partner at K&S Partners,Intellectual Property Attorneys. The legal heirs of the content creator have the right to the work and royalties, if any,After all, the Internet is just another medium for exploitation of the rights to any creative product.

BLOGS,PHOTOS,FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS

Like all creative products, literary writings, research notes, photographs, etc, that are created online will pass on to the legal heir al the deceased. There is, however, no specilic law in lnclia on this, but they are seen as intellectual property and treated likewise.Similarly, legal heirs have the right to access bank accounts and online records with, say,the Income Tax Department. Companies will have first right to stall lying in official email services and servers.

FACEBOOK

When o user passes owoy, Focebook gives their friends and relatives the option of memoriolising their account to protect privocy. ”Memoriolising an account sets the account privacv so that only confirmed triends can see the prolile (Timeline) or locute it in seurrh. Friends and family can leave posts in remembrance. memorialising an account olso prevents anyone from logging into the account,” says the Focebook blog. Focebook does not divulge  the login details of the account to anyone, but ”verified immediate family members" can request the removal of any  Focebook occount if they do not want to get it memoriolised.

GOOGLE

Google says that in rare cases it ”may be able to provide the Gmail account content to on authorised representative of the deceased user". Bot the post on Google Support adds that "any decision to provide the contents of a deceased user’s email will be made only after a carefal review, and the application ta obtain email content is a lengthy process. Before you begin, please understand that Google may be unable to provide the Gmail account content, and sending a request or filing the required documentation does not guarantee that we will be able to assist you." The same applies to all Google services.

YAHOO

Email accounts of Yohoo are outomatically deleted if it stays format lor over four months. Yahoo will also close the anccount if a copy of the dealth certificate is emailed to cc-advoc@yohoo-inc.rom.