Tag Archives: death

Jim Lamm Presents on Digital Death at 2013 Heckerling Institute

On Thursday, January 17, 2013, I presented a ninety–minute seminar titled “Digital Death: What to Do When Your Client Is Six Feet Under But His Data Is in the Cloud” with Professor Christina L. Kunz and Damien A. Riehl at … Continue reading

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Jim Lamm Quoted in The Wall Street Journal

On January 5, 2013, I was quoted in The Wall Street Journal in the article “Life and Death Online: Who Controls a Digital Legacy?” by Geoffrey A. Fowler. The article describes a Toronto family’s struggle with a deceased teenager’s digital … Continue reading

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Uniform Law Commission’s Drafting Committee on Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets

The Uniform Law Commission has appointed a Drafting Committee to address the issue of Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets, and its first meeting will be November 30 and December 1, 2012, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The ULC studies and reviews state laws to … Continue reading

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Facebook Blocks Demand for Contents of Deceased User’s Account

On September 20, 2012, Facebook obtained a court order blocking a demand to turn over the contents of a deceased user’s Facebook account. The executor of Sahar Daftary’s estate requested a subpoena to compel Facebook to turn over the decedent’s Facebook … Continue reading

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What Happens to Your Apple iTunes Music, Videos, and eBooks When You Die?

Recently, there have been several news stories about what happens to your digital music, videos, and eBooks purchased from Apple’s iTunes when you die. The same question would apply to other digital music, video, and eBook sellers (for example, eBooks … Continue reading

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Defending Your Ownership and Privacy in Twitter (and Other Online Accounts)

If law enforcement demands the contents of your electronic communications or non–content records from your Twitter account, do you have standing to challenge the subpoena? A New York criminal court has said “no”—because you don’t have a proprietary interest in … Continue reading

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How Secure Are Your Online Account Passwords?

With announcements this month from popular Web sites LinkedIn, eHarmony, and Last.fm that a significant number of user passwords may have been compromised, it’s a good time to ask yourself, “How secure are your passwords?” It’s also a good time … Continue reading

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Wisconsin Family Struggles to Obtain Access to Deceased Son’s Facebook and Gmail Accounts

A June 1, 2012, article by Jessica Hopper posted on MSNBC’s Rock Center, describes a Wisconsin family’s attempts to gain access to their deceased son’s online accounts. As I mention in previous postings, it can be a very time–consuming, expensive, … Continue reading

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WSJ Article on Access to Online Accounts After a Business Owner Dies

There is an article by Molly Williams in today’s Wall Street Journal titled “If a Business Owner Dies, Who Can Access the Web?” The article points out that some small businesses have only one person who knows the passwords to … Continue reading

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Update on Whether It’s a Crime for Fiduciaries to Access a Decedent’s Online Accounts

I’ve written previously that using an incapacitated or deceased person’s passwords to access that person’s online accounts may not be permitted under the Web service’s Terms of Service contract, and it might even be construed as “unauthorized access” under a … Continue reading

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