Digital Death

We're moving much of our lives out of the physical realm and into the digital, but have you ever stopped to wonder what'll happen to your media and photos, your data and your virtual legacy after you're gone?

Facebook's 'dead' population grows by about 8,000 people every single day. The time will come where there’ll be more dead than living online. That's a lot of profiles, accounts, media and assets left floating in cyberspace. What do you want to happen to yours?

Your Google or Apple account alone will probably have money, data, emails, apps, media tied to it. In fact, our online lives today may be just as expansive and complex as our physical. 

So who has made provisions for after they die?

Very few of us. In fact, recent LifeSeach research found that a majority of people don't voice their digital death wishes, and as you can read on this page, not doing so can lead to worlds of confusion and upset for those left behind.

The latest chapter in our Let's Start Talking campaign covers this very subject, and the revealing facts around it. Our survey found that two in five Brits say they want to be able to leave a digital legacy – by signing over subscriptions, accounts, photos and assets – over to loved ones when we depart.

Some one in four of us would rather our online footsteps were all just swept away: deleted for the sake of loved ones' emotional and financial wellbeing, and to sidestep any potential security threats. 

Here, we explore digital death with How to guides and personal stories from LifeSearchers who've been caught up in the odd nomansland of digital death. For all of us, getting our digital houses in order is an important move. Let's Start Talking ... Digital Death.