The role of private actors in digital death : shortcomings of the law and prospects of reform

Abstract

Digital death refers to the issue of what happens to the digital elements of a person's life after their death. These elements are of two kinds: personal data and digital assets, which can be part of the person’s inheritance. These elements are often handled by private actors, including Internet giants or other online service providers. With regard to digital death, articles 3 and 96 of the Ley organica 3/2018 are respectively dealing with the issue of personal data after death and implementing the so-called “testamento digital”. These texts have significant shortcomings when confronted with the action of private actors in the field of digital death. In addition to noting the predominant role of private actors in digital death and the shortcomings of the texts in force, this article also proposes to look at what could be done to make up for the shortcomings of the law: the hypothesis of an intervention by the European Union in this area will therefore be considered, and, about the substance, it will consider the possibility of seeing to what extent a reform could put forward the will of the persons in question and facilitate the task of the heirs facing private actors.