Oregon to Consider Digital Communication After Death

As technology becomes increasingly integrated into our daily lives, what becomes of a person’s online life in the event of their death?  This is an issue that Oregon lawmakers are facing this legislative session. 

The issue is under what circumstances an executor can gain access to the contents of personal, private digital communications after a person dies—including emails, chats, social media messages, online dating profiles, and other conversations with friends and family.  Senate Bill 369, the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (UFADAA), sets exposure of communication as the default unless a person has hired an attorney to state in a will what is to be done with digital communication accounts.  Without privacy protections outlined in a will, the estate executor receives unfettered access to digital communications upon the individual’s death. 

Contrastingly, Oregon House Bill 2647, the Privacy Expectation Afterlife and Choices Act (PEAC), protects user choices and keeps privacy as the default.  If a person indicates what is to be done with an account in a will, the choice is respected.  However, if no such choice was made, an executor can gain access to digital records, but only “outside the envelope.”  This means that the online communication provider will release information related to whom a person has received emails from, but will not release the content of those emails.  Technology companies urge Oregon lawmakers to respect the choices people make and pass HB 2647 this session.

See Megan Schrader, Protecting Oregonians’ Privacy in Life—and Death, Blue Oregon, March 20, 2015.