The Science and Technology Committee held a discussion today (Tuesday) on the subject of 'Rights to Digital Assets After Death'.
A survey conducted by Prof. Michael Birnhack and Dr. Tal Morse among a representative sample of Israeli surfers for the Israeli Internet Association, the findings of which were presented for the first time in a discussion, revealed that about half of the public does not want any of their family members or friends to have access to their cloud services, email, or social networks after their death, with about 20 percent of them in favor of access to only some of the content.
The survey conducted last month also revealed that less than a fifth of the public is aware of digital legacy management services, in which some Internet corporations allow the account holder to leave permissions to manage the account in the event of death, and that only 6 percent of the public has activated these tools.
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In addition, about 70 percent of the public does not want anyone to have access to information about them stored on dating sites after their death.
Prof. Michael Birnhack, Tel Aviv University: "The more digital our lives become, the more digital our deaths become. The study shows that there is very little awareness of the issue. A significant portion of users want to control the fate of their information after their death, some of them want to do so primarily because of their family.".
Vered Shavit, a blogger and independent researcher, who lost her brother, automotive journalist Tal Shavit, in a car accident and had to deal with a hack into his email account after his death, spoke about the complex situation: "Everyone is going to die and leave behind a very rich digital legacy, including young people.
""In the digital world, if you didn't manage your assets during your life, nothing will help after you die, not money, not lawyers, not anything. I help people and time after time I have to say: Being a widow doesn't give you digital rights. It breaks my heart to explain that to first-degree relatives.".
"In Israel, none of the recognized bodies publish their digital policy, if they have one. We get a lot of answers from them - bring a court order, bring a death certificate.".
Shavit noted that Google and Facebook, which also have solutions in the form of leaving instructions on who to leave permissions to an account, do not publish them. "I suggest that with every registration and every period, corporations ask what we would like to do with the account after our death, and also launch a national campaign to raise awareness of the issue.".
Committee Chairman, MK Uri Maklev: "The public pays less attention to this issue, perhaps because of the speed, perhaps because of the lack of awareness - and we here need to emphasize it. It is possible that this will provide the necessary response and people will exercise their right on some platforms to instruct a person to continue. On the other hand, it is possible that only the promotion of a few regulations will provide a complete response. Leaving the situation as it is will flood many cases of mental anguish.".
Shani Marble, whose brother died of cancer, told of a long struggle with Facebook to obtain permission to manage a public page he ran in which he described his struggle with the disease.
""In the blog, Samson expressed his desire to maintain sanity in the ongoing war on life. He provided a response there to many patients. We wanted to do something for the material people and create continuity. Unfortunately, one morning everything disappeared, we experienced a kind of loss all over again. Facebook claimed that the page could not be restored because he was the sole administrator. Only after a period and lengthy deliberation did they decide for the first time and as a precedent as a humane gesture to allow me to manage the page.".
MK Maklev: "You made it clear in your words how much meaning these things have for siblings, parents, and children of deceased people. A Facebook representative delivered a letter about the steps the company is taking and promised to follow the discussion. If we advance legislation, they will have no choice.".
Attorney Iggy Paz, Ministry of Justice: "In our opinion, it is better not to address this issue under inheritance law. There is difficulty in segmenting such materials into economic materials, and this could also be of interest to creditors in such a catalog. There could also be disagreements between heirs. It would be better to have it under contract law.".
To the committee chairman's question about the settlement of the issue, Paz replied: "There were discussions, but they stopped at a certain point because a legislative solution is very complex and controversial. There are also questions from the political echelon that can guide the professional echelon, and there is also an order of priorities.".
MK Maklev: "Even if there is a priority, there is a need to move forward. This issue also needs a response, and I ask that you demand it.".
Attorney Jonathan Klinger, attorney general of the Digital Rights Movement: "I hope that a legislative process or regulation of the issue will be promoted. We must remember that as long as the international corporations are not a party to the legislation, their relationship with me is contractual and I have no property rights. Their argument will be that you are dead and our agreement is like this.".
MK Maklev summed up the discussion: "This is a very complex issue, where ultimately we depend on suppliers and international companies and we will have to overcome a major hurdle to reach a solution. But this should not prevent us from moving forward. Ministry of Justice, I ask that you examine the issue of intellectual property - what does the law say, what do you propose as legislation for regulation. There is no doubt that the first step is awareness, it can provide a lot, along with that, as mentioned, legislation is also on the table for regulation, we owe it to the public.".
