The 2013 US Census Report reveals that 71% of US Households reported that they access the internet from home. The Pew Center reports that 72% of Online Adults are Social Networking Site Users. These statistics are staggering in comparison to comparable 1997 reports showing that a mere 18% of households reported they accessed the internet!
What happens to your online accounts, should something happen to you? And by something happening to you – I mean, while alive – you are unable to speak for yourself and after you die – what happens to the online accounts most of us access in our daily lives at home and work?
Internet service providers—like Facebook, your email providers, software access, online accounts +++—have policies governing the terms and conditions of a user’s account. Do you remember clicking “yes”, “yes” or “yes” when you “Agree” before downloading or accessing the account, app or new software tool? Ah, that “yes” and “Agree” means that you accepted the terms and conditions from the service provider! Did you read those policies? Even if you read them, do you remember what they said?
If you are like most of us, you have no idea what you accepted when you “agreed”. By not fully reading all these terms and policies, users may not completely understand what service providers can or will do with their information. However, even if users understood of all the terms, there may not be a good alternative to the service and they therefore effectively have no choice but to accept the terms.
I am not an attorney. I am a person of interest regarding this topic. The light bulb turned on for me after realizing how different life was during my parent’s time. As the person who handled the administrative details after my parents died, I compared my life with theirs. My online life at home and in business is active, my parent’s did not use the internet. Considering this phenomenon, what should we do?
Did you know in 2012 the Uniform Law Commission created a drafting committee to consider a uniform act to vest fiduciaries with the authority to manage and distribute digital assets, copy or delete digital assets, and access digital assets? Individual States are responsible for bringing this into law. At present we do not have national laws governing how we to handle Digital Assets. In 2015, The Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access To Digital Assets Act (UFADAA) was drafted.
What is “Fiduciary Access”? A fiduciary is a person appointed to manage the property of another person, subject to strict duties to act in the other person’s best interest. Common types of fiduciaries include executors of a decedent’s estate, trustees, conservators, and agents under a power of attorney. This act extends the traditional power of a fiduciary to manage tangible property to include management of a person’s digital assets. The act allows fiduciaries to manage digital property like computer files, web domains, and virtual currency, but restricts a fiduciary’s access to electronic communications such as email, text messages, and social media accounts unless the original user consented in a will, trust, power of attorney, or other record.
Here are the states who have enacted or introduced this Act.
| State | Bill | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | SB164/HB269 | Smitherman/Givan | Introduced |
| Arizona | SB 1413 | Driggs | Enacted |
| Colorado | SB 88 | Steadman | Enacted |
| Connecticut | HB 5606 | Enacted | |
| Florida | SB 494 | Hukill | Enacted |
| Hawaii | SB 2298 | Keith-Agaran | Enacted |
| Idaho | SB 1303 | Enacted | |
| Illinois | HB 4648 | Welch | Introduced |
| Indiana | SB 253 | Waltz | Enacted |
| Iowa | SF 2112 | Introduced | |
| Louisiana | HB 1118 | Hunter | Introduced |
| Maine | LD 1177 | Hobbins | Introduced |
| Maryland | SB239/HB507 | Kelley/Kramer | Enacted |
| Michigan | HB 5034 | Forlini | Enacted |
| Minnesota | HF 200 | Hilstrom | Enacted |
| Mississippi | SB 2478 | Tollison | Introduced |
| Nebraska | LB 829 | Harr | Enacted |
| New Jersey | AB 3433 | Greenwald | Introduced |
| New York | AB 9910 | Weinstein | Introduced |
| North Carolina | SB 805 | Hartsell | Enacted |
| Oklahoma | SB 1107 | Holt | Introduced |
| Oregon | SB 1554 | Prozanski | Enacted |
| Pennsylvania | SB 518 | Pileggi | Introduced |
| Rhode Island | HB 8125 | Keable | Introduced |
| South Carolina | SB 908 | Hayes | Enacted |
| Tennessee | SB 326 | Norris | Enacted |
| Utah | HB 383 | Snow | Introduced |
| Washington | SB 5029 | Pedersen | Enacted |
| West Virginia | HB 4400 | Skinner | Introduced |
| Wisconsin | AB 695 | Brooks | Enacted |
| Wyoming | SF 34 | Enacted |
For those who have yet to draft legal documents (will, trust, estate plan), if you were to die, your information becomes public information during the probate process.
What are your thoughts about providing access to your accounts to someone on your behalf, if you are unable to access? If someone had access, are you ready for the information contained in your emails, accounts, social media and/or software to be shared? Do you have a listing of the online accounts you access at home and in business? Online accounts are mainstream today. How you organize this information and provide access is up to you. Make your thoughts known to those who would be impacted. Digital Accounts are here to stay …
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