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When Do Online Avatars Die 2022 expert

When Do Online Avatars Die

Unit 5 Paper details: Please read the Issue section of Unit 5, “When Do Online Avatars Die?” and share your reactions/feelings with respect to this article.

When Do Online Avatars Die

Unit 5 Paper details: Please read the Issue section of Unit 5, “When Do Online Avatars Die?” and share your reactions/feelings with respect to this article. Main content Issue: When Do Online Avatars Die? Interactive Situation Questions Enlarge Image Frenzel/Shutterstock 30 million. That’s the number of Facebook users who died during the service’s first eight years in operation. The number of deceased Facebook members is projected to outnumber its living avatars by 2030. Have you ever wondered what happens to online avatars when their owners pass away? Consider the 2011 case of a 15-year-old high school student in Virginia who tragically committed suicide.

When Do Online Avatars Die

His parents wanted to access their son’s social media accounts to look for clues that might explain his motivation. Their request for access was denied. Facebook’s denial was based on state statutes, federal laws, and language in the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act that protects the privacy of minors. “Do you want to live forever?” Valeria asks Conan in the movie Conan the Barbarian (1982) As a result of the ensuing controversy, the Virginia Legislature passed HB 1752, or the Virginia Digital Assets Law. This law allows parents or legal guardians of minors to access their childrens’ social media accounts.

When Do Online Avatars Die

According to the official summary, this bill “Provides that the personal representative of a deceased minor has the power to assume the deceased minor’s terms of service agreement with an Internet service provider, communications service provider, or other online account service provider for the purposes of consenting to and obtaining the disclosure of the minor’s digital assets.” The Virginia law focuses on the rights of minors and their parents, but who has rights to an adult’s digital data after his or her death? The estate of a deceased person includes personal effects such as clothing and household implements.

When Do Online Avatars Die

It may also include financial assets and real estate. An executor is an individual whose responsibility is to dispose of these personal effects. The ability of an executor to access the digital assets of a deceased person depends on a myriad of state and federal laws as well as the policies of various social media services. The terms of use for most social media sites are nontransferable, which means that account access and use cannot be transferred from a deceased person to an executor. The images and posts on social media sites are just a fraction of the many digital assets that people accumulate throughout their lives.

When Do Online Avatars Die

Other digital assets include accounts for email, online banking, bill paying, and medical records. Each category of assets has different implications for an individual’s privacy rights, which legally remain in effect after death. Processes and procedures exist for releasing bank accounts and similar financial assets to an executor. However, purely online financial holdings such as bitcoin and PayPal accounts may be more difficult to access, as the executor must prove his or her credentials digitally rather than in person. Email accounts, which hold correspondence with multiple individuals, are even further complicated. https://youtu.be/EZngmr7L8aE

When Do Online Avatars Die

Messages from correspondents were sent with an expectation of privacy. Neither the sender nor the recipient may want the executor rifling through old love letters, complaints, or messages that might have repercussions on their reputations. As with other aspects surrounding estate planning, a fully executed will is the key to ensuring that real and digital assets are handled in a specific way and by specified people. Some people may wish their online avatars to live forever, whereas others may wish to exercise their right to be forgotten. Facebook will now memorialize deceased members’ accounts when provided with proof of death.

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