Jusletter IT

Law and Technology of Online Profiles after Death

  • Author: Irina Baraliuc
  • Category: Short Articles
  • Region: Belgium
  • Field of law: Data Protection
  • Collection: Conference proceedings IRIS 2012
  • Citation: Irina Baraliuc, Law and Technology of Online Profiles after Death , in: Jusletter IT 29 February 2012
Post-mortem aspects of online existence of people, in particular of online profiles on social networking sites, are becoming of an increasing interest for users, family members and friends of a deceased person, on one side, and lawyers and policy makers, on the other side. At stake are the interests of (1) directly involved users concerning their privacy and protection of their data, as well as their reputation after death, (2) surviving family members and friends who will have to deal with the death of a close person and may be even indirectly involved when the online profile would go on to exist even after the death of their next kin, (3) other users, sensitive or other personal information about whom may be posted on the online profiles after death. This paper is an attempt to answer the question whether current legal frameworks provide sufficient protection of such interests related to online profiles of deceased users. It examines briefly the currently available technological possibilities to deal with online profiles after death, while the legal analysis looks into the legal frameworks (data protection, succession law) in order to identify provisions that regulate the protection of personal data of deceased individuals.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Technology-based solutions offered for online profiles after death
  • 2.1. The approach of SNSs in dealing with online profiles of deceased users
  • 2.2. New web-based services managing online existence after death
  • 3. Legal aspects of online data profiles after death
  • 3.1. General data protection regulations concerning deceased users
  • 3.2. The case of protection of health-related data of deceased persons
  • 3.3. Succession law
  • 3.3.1. Introduction
  • 3.3.2. Testamentary burden – a solution?
  • 3.3.3. Relevance and applicability of succession law to data contained in online profiles after the death of their users
  • 4. Conclusion
  • 5. Bibliography

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