What is a digital footprint? Should it be part of your will?

For this week’s No More Ls column, we’re looking at why it’s important to get your digital footprint in order (think passwords, social media accounts, crypto wallets and the like)—that stuff just won’t take care of itself when you die.

Unless you’re a philosopher, you’d probably rather focus on your goals instead of mortality. Your next promotion. Buying your first house. Hitting your maximum contribution limit on your registered account. You know, the fun things in life. But thinking about when you eventually pass is practical. For instance, creating an estate plan or a roadmap for how you want your wishes carried out after you die will give your loved ones peace of mind in the future. And for those of us that grew up with—or grew into—MySpace, iTunes, Facebook, Instagram, online shopping and crypto, creating hundreds of online accounts along the way, there’s a new element to planning for the future: dealing with your digital footprint.

We might assume that our digital lives will be handled with care after our physical ones end. But not creating a plan for your digital footprint could leave your loved ones wondering if they should make a final memorial post on your social media or just delete the profile entirely. So, not leaving behind your seed phrase so your Bitcoin can be accessed after you die means your family won’t reap the benefits when Bitcoin inevitably rebounds (you bet I’m serious).  

My fellow millennials and I are in a unique position, according to Dayna Charlebois, TEP, an estate product specialist with online estate planning and settlement platform ClearEstate. We’re the first generation to have significant digital footprints. “Our grandparents didn’t have digital assets. Our parents don’t really have significant digital assets, but our generation will. We’re the first ones,” she says. I agree, but even Boomers like their Facebook accounts and online shopping.  

That all begs the question, how should people like me deal with our digital lives?

Formalize your wishes

Ask any estate professional about the first step to dealing with your digital assets, and they’ll tell you to get a will—a legal document that lays out how you want your assets to be dealt with after your death and who will care for your children.

That this needs to be the first step for anyone planning ahead, says Erin Bury, CEO and co-founder of the online estate planning platform Willful. “ I’m biased, but my first piece of advice is to get a will, because you can outline any digital assets that you have and direct them to the people you choose.”

The wills that both ClearEstate and Willful offer contain a “digital assets clause,” specifically authorizing the person dealing with your estate (i.e. your executor) to manage, access and close your digital footprint. It authorizes them to memorialize social media accounts, access those accounts if they do not have the passwords, close them if necessary, and generally do anything related to a loved one’s digital footprint, Bury and Charlebois both say. 

As critical as wills are, data is showing a remarkable paucity of Canadians that have them in place. A 2023 study from the Angus Reid Institute found that only 50% of Canadians have a will, a ratio that has remained nearly identical since a similar study was done in 2018. More recently, an Ipsos Poll conducted on behalf of RBC Insurance noted that only 15% of those surveyed had an estate plan in place.

Without a will, how someone’s assets are distributed—digital ones included—are subject to the government’s rules in their province, says Bury, and often this doesn’t align with the deceased person’s plans. Without a will, it can become much more cumbersome for the executor to deal with companies where digital assets were held, Charlebois notes. And digital platforms like social media sites can have strict privacy or deactivation rules, so executors may not be able to access accounts with only a death certificate. 

To get proper authorization to access accounts without a will in place, the courts will need to appoint someone to administer the estate. And that is much more time-consuming than having a will in the first place. 

Leave clear instructions

When it comes to digital assets, especially cryptocurrencies, not everyone has the same ability to understand and handle these valuables with care. This can be problematic: what if the person you name as your executor doesn’t have the digital-know-how to deal with your crypto wallet or your social media accounts?

There’s an answer for this, known as a Letter of Wishes (LoW), says Charlebois. This is a non-legally binding document that supplements a will and sets out any wishes you might have that aren’t explicit. Yes, an LoW does not ensure your wishes are carried out like a will does, but it provides practical advice in your own words as to the how and why of your wishes. It gives your loved ones context and the rationale behind your decisions for your digital assets and more, so they can understand your desires during a time of emotional volatility.

Importantly, says Charlebois, wills become public information when they are probated—verified by the courts—so including sensitive digital asset information in a LoW keeps your private information out of the public eye. 

“ The letter of wishes is private. So you can put whatever you want for your trusted loved ones to follow. And it’s easy to update without having to redo your will,” says Charlebois, adding, “You can put your digital inventory in it, with explicit authorization for executors to access your digital accounts, your platform preferences, and whether you want your social media memorialized or deleted.”

Without clear instructions and information, family members may not know to memorialize your socials, or not know about your high-value assets like crypto accounts. Your digital life remains in purgatory.

Inventory your digital assets

When it comes to dealing with your digital footprint, Bury views the issue as a two-part problem: the first being getting a will in place, and the second taking stock of the digital assets you own. Bury recommends the idea of leaving “breadcrumbs,” a trail of digital information such as passwords and corresponding accounts, behind for loved ones to know how to access your digital accounts, with an inventory of your assets and corresponding credentials.

Bury admirably takes her own advice. She uses a password manager platform called 1Password—an online vault for sensitive data—to store and share her digital credentials and sensitive identification documents with her husband. “ I have my login to the phone bill, the cable bill, all of my internet banking, every e-commerce site that I’ve signed up for that stores my credit card, and my streaming services. So, if I were to pass away tomorrow and my husband needed to close up my digital footprint, the first place he would start looking is on 1Password.”

While her digital footprint is well organized, Bury is cognizant that many Canadians aren’t in this position. And they’re going to be surprised when they have to deal with a loved one’s digital life after they are gone.

“ The average person… they’re not even using password managers, let alone documenting all of this. So, I think Canadians are woefully unprepared for wrapping up a loved one’s digital footprint, and it’s going to mean hundreds of hours of work in the future.”

There is another side to this. Canadians who choose to organize their digital footprint now make their loved ones’ lives easier during a time of often intense grieving. 

That’s worth taking a Saturday afternoon to document all my online accounts, crypto passwords, and the like, I think.

Read more from this issue of The Get:

1. Why haven’t mortgage rates come down more?
2. How much does the internet know about us?
3. Artist Christopher Rouleau opens up on Selling Canada—and the business of art
4. How much money will I need to retire at 60?