Fortify Your Digital Legacy
- Alex Potter, CFP®
- May 1
- 4 min read
Ever think about how someone would get access to your online life if you were to pass away? It’s a real concern that many of us think about but take no action to address. Our digital lives have expanded beyond what many believed was possible just 5-10 years ago. How does someone get logged into your iPhone? Email? Google Drive? Facebook? The list goes on and on.
This month’s blog post will cover some basic things we can all do today to prepare for an unexpected death, to help our loved ones get access to decades of pictures, emails, and the like. Take a few minutes of your day to consider fortifying your digital legacy today. At the bottom of the post, you can download your own Digital Master List as well!
Apple Legacy Contact
For iCloud, photos, messages, notes, files, device backups. An Apple Legacy Contact can access most of your iCloud data after your death. They’ll need an access key plus a death certificate. One thing to note, this does NOT include passwords saved in iCloud Keychain, or media and subscriptions you purchased.
How to set it up on iPhone or iPad:
Open Settings
Tap your name at the top
Tap Sign-In & Security
Tap Legacy Contact
Tap Add Legacy Contact
Authenticate
Pick the person from your contacts
Send them the access key through iMessage, or print a copy.
On a Mac: System Settings ⟶ Your Name ⟶ Sign-in & Security ⟶ Legacy Contact
You can add more than one Legacy Contact as well. Just make sure to store the access key no matter how you share it, and keep it with your estate documents.
Google Inactive Account Manager
For Gmail, Google Drive, Photos, YouTube, and all things Google.
Google works a little differently. Instead of a death certificate, Google uses an “inactivity timer”. You pick a timeframe (3,6,12, or 18 months). If Google doesn’t detect any sign-ins during that window, it sends you a warning, and then if you still don’t respond, it notifies the people you’ve designated.
How to set it up:
Click Start
Choose your inactivity timeframe.
Enter your mobile phone number and recovery email
Add up to 10 trusted contacts (their email and phone number)
For each contact, select which Google services they can access
Optionally, set up an auto-reply for Gmail
Choose whether Google should delete the account after everything is shared
Review and confirm plan
One important tip: tell the people you designate. If your spouse or kids get an email out of the blue from Google about your account being inactive, they may accidentally delete it as spam.
Facebook Legacy Contact
For your profile, photos and posts.
Facebook gives you two options. You can either name a Legacy Contact to manage a memorialized version of your profile, or tell facebook to delete your account entirely when they’re notified of your death. A Legacy Contact can pin a tribute post, respond to new friend requests, update your profile photo, and download an archive of what you have shared. They CANNOT log in as you, read your messages, or post as you.
How to set it up:
Click on your profile picture to get to Settings & Privacy, then click Settings
Navigate to Account Center
Then click Personal Details
Then click Account Ownership and Control
Then choose Memorialization or Deactivation/deletion
Choose a friend as your Legacy Contact and choose to give them permission of your data archive or not
If you have an Instagram account, you can choose to add a person for that as well
Don't Stop at Legacy Contacts
Setting up your Apple, Google and Facebook legacy contacts is a great start, but there’s more to the picture.
Write down your passwords: If you have a password manager to keep track of all your online login passwords, consider writing down the master password with your spouse or executor, or leave it in a sealed envelope with your estate documents.
Update your estate plan: Michigan law gives your executor authority over your digital assets, but only if your will specifically says so. It’s worth reviewing your documents and speaking to an attorney.
Don’t forget about crypto: If you own any crypto assets, your family needs to know it exists, where it’s held, and how to access it. Any seed phrases should be stored in a sealed envelope with your estate planning documents.
Make a master list: Banks, brokerage accounts, subscriptions, email accounts, cloud storage, social media, crypto wallets, etc. One document that shows your family what exists and where to find it.
Revisit once a year to update if needed. Bottom line, our lives are more than physical, our digital lives can also be extensive. Taking proper care of this can help loved ones in the future!
Download your Digital Asset List here!
Apple Lockdown Fact
Setting up an Apple Legacy Contact takes 5 minutes. without one, your family may need a court order just to access your iCloud photos.
Securities offered through Registered Representatives of Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., a Broker/Dealer, Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment Advisor Representative, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor. This communication is strictly intended for individuals residing in the states of MI, IN, OH. Cambridge and Foundation Wealth Management are not affiliated.